John Gill

So there was division in the crowd because of Jesus.

“So there was a division among the people concerning him. Some, though they did not go so far as to believe him to be the Messiah, yet took him to be a prophet, and a very extraordinary one; others made no difficulty to assert him…”

Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Him in?”

“Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees,.... Who were assembled together in council, as the great sanhedrim of the nation; who were sitting and expecting Jesus to be brought before them.”

“Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?”

“Doth our law judge any man,.... Or condemn any man; or can any man be lawfully condemned: before it hear him: what he has to say for himself; is this the usual process in our courts?”

and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

“They say unto him, Master,.... They applied to him in a handsome and respectful manner, the better to cover their ill design: this woman was taken in adultery; by two persons at least, who could be witnesses of it; otherwise the accusation was not legal…”

“No one, Lord,” she answered. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.”

“She saith, no man, Lord,.... No man said a word to me, or lift up his hand against me, or moved a stone at me: and Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee; Christ came not into the world to act the part…”

Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.

“It is also written in your law,.... The law of Moses, which was given unto them, and they boasted of; the passage referred to is in Deu 19:15; see also Deu 17:6; where though what follows is not to be found in so many words…”

“Where is Your Father?” they asked Him. “You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.”

“Then said they unto him, where is thy Father?.... The Persic version adds, "show him unto us": produce this witness boasted of, let us see him; this they said in a sneering, taunting, and insulting manner; where is thy Father? what!”

Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

“And he said unto them,.... Upon this wicked remark of theirs, and query on his words: ye are from beneath: not only of the earth, earthy, and so spoke of the earth, and as carnal men; but even of hell, they were the children of…”

They did not understand that He was telling them about the Father.

“They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. That sent him, and who was true and faithful to all he had said, whether in a way of promise, or threatening; such was their stupidity, that they did not know that he meant…”

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

“If the Son therefore shall make you free,.... Alluding to the custom of adoption by the sons or brethren in the family, which obtained in Greece, called αδελφοθεσια, "the adoption of brethren", as Grotius, and others have observed; or rather to a custom among the…”

I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you.

“I know that ye are Abraham's seed,.... In answer to the other part of the Jews' objection to Christ, and in favour of themselves, Christ owns that they were the natural seed of Abraham; for truth must be allowed to an adversary.”

Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.

“Why do ye not understand my speech?.... Language, idiom, dialect, and form of speaking, in a figurative way; for they did not know what he meant by liberty, and bondage, and by having another father than Abraham, or by his own procession and coming forth…”

But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!

“And because I tell you the truth,.... And no lie, the whole truth of the Gospel, and particularly the truth of his divine sonship: ye believe me not; to such an infatuation and judicial blindness were they give up, to disbelieve him, because he told…”

Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, as did the prophets. Who do You claim to be?”

“Art thou greater than our father Abraham?.... So the woman of Samaria said, concerning Jacob, Joh 4:”

At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.

“Then they took up stones to cast at him,.... Supposing that he had spoken blasphemy; for they well understood that he, by so saying, made himself to be the eternal God, the unchangeable Jehovah.”

Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

“And said unto him, go wash in the Pool of Siloam,.... A fountain of this name is called Siloah, Isa 8:6, and according to the Jewish writers, sometimes Gihon (e); and this, they say (f), was without Jerusalem, though near unto it: hither the Jews…”

“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

“Therefore said they unto him,.... When the case was clear, and it was out of question that he was the man: how were thine eyes opened?”

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.

“Now we know that God heareth not sinners,.... All mankind are sinners, even God's elect; yea, such who are truly gracious and righteous persons; for there is no man without sin; and God hears such who cry unto him day and night; such Christ came…”

Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.

“Since the world began,.... εκ του αιωνος, "from eternity", or never: the phrase answers to מעולם, frequently used by the Jews (m), for never; and so the Arabic version renders it, "it was never heard", &c.”

If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.”

“If this man were not of God,.... If he had not his mission, commission, and credentials from God; if he had not been sent by him, and had not authority from him, and was not assisted by him, as man, or God was not with…”

They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

“They answered and said unto him,.... Being nettled, and stung at what he said, and not able to confute his reasoning; and it is amazing that a man that could never read the Scriptures, who had had no education, was not only blind, but a…”

“Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.

“And he said, Lord, I believe,.... He immediately found faith in his soul, and that in exercise, moving towards, and acting upon Christ, as the Son of God, and true Messiah, for everlasting life and salvation; and as soon as he did perceive it, he…”

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

“And Jesus said, for judgment I am come into this world,.... The Syriac version reads, "for the judgment of this world I am come"; and with which agrees the Ethiopic version, "for the judgment of the world I am come into the world"; and the…”

Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?”

“And some of the Pharisees which were with him,.... Who had followed him, and were watching him, and observing what he said and did, in order to take all advantages, and every opportunity against him, they could, heard these words, and said unto him, are…”

But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”

“And a stranger will they not follow,.... One that knows not Christ, is not sent by him, and who does not preach him: but will flee from him; shun him and his ministry, as not only disagreeable, but dangerous: for they know not the voice…”