John 9:4

"I must work while it is day." What mean these words? To what conclusion do they lead? To an important one. For what He saith is of this kind. "While it is day, while men may believe on Me, while this life lasteth, I must work." "The night cometh," that is, futurity, "when no man can work." He said not, "when I cannot work," but, "when no man can work": that is, when there is no longer faith, nor labors, nor repentance. For to show that He calleth faith, a "work," when they say unto Him, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" He replieth, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." How then can no man work this work in the future world? Because there faith is not, but all, willingly, or unwillingly, will submit. For lest any one should say that He acted as He did from desire of honor, He showeth that He did all to spare them who had power to believe "here" only, but who could no longer "there" gain any good thing.

He adds: "I must do the works of Him who sent Me." "I," He says, "must reveal Myself and perform works that can show that I accomplish the same things that the Father does." Notice, He did not say that I must do works such …

I must work the works of him who sent me. These are the miraculous works, which he attributes to the Father, because power is appropriated to him: below in the fourteenth chapter: "The Father abiding in me, he himself does the works"; above in the …

For when the Son declared that He worked the works of the Father, He proved that His and His Father's works were the same: which are to heal the sick, to strengthen the weak, and enlighten man.

1303 Next he explains the true reason. And because he had mentioned God's works, first he states the opportunity for manifesting God's works; secondly, the reason for this opportunity or need, night comes; and thirdly, he explains this (v 5). 1304 He says, therefore, this …

The night is coming - Christ is the light. When the light is withdrawn night comes, when no man can work - No man can do any thing toward working out his salvation after this life is ended. Yet Christ can work always.

Thirdly, He was pleased to lay himself under the strongest obligations to do the business he was sent about: I must work. He engaged his heart, in the covenant of redemption, to draw near, and approach to God as Mediator, Jer. xxx. Shall we be willing to be loose, when Christ was willing to be bound?

I must work the works of him that sent me,....

The chapter we now begin records one of the few great works of Christ which John has reported. It tell us how our Lord gave sight to a man who had been "blind from his birth." Here, as elsewhere in this Gospel, we find the circumstances of the miracle narrated with peculiar fullness, minuteness, and particularity. Here too, as elsewhere, we find the narrative rich in spiritual lessons. We should observe, first, in this passage, how much sorrow sin has brought into the world. A sorrowful case is brought before us.

I must work the works of him that sent me, &c.--a most interesting statement from the mouth of Christ; intimating, (1) that He had a precise work to do upon earth, with every particular of it arranged and laid out to Him; (2) that all He did upon earth was just "the works of God"--particularly "going about doing good," though not exclusively by miracles;

IF this ninth chapter of John is intended to be a continuation of the history contained in the eighth, as we think it is, it brings before us a very extraordinary fact. You will observe in the eighth chapter that our Lord was about to be stoned by the Jews. He therefore withdrew Himself from the circle of His infuriated foes, and passed through the crowd, not, I think, in a hurried manner, but in a calm and dignified way—as one not at all disconcerted, but wholly self-possessed.

The chapter we now begin records one of the few great works of Christ which John has reported. It tell us how our Lord gave sight to a man who had been "blind from his birth." Here, as elsewhere in this Gospel, we find the circumstances of the miracle narrated with peculiar fullness, minuteness, and particularity. Here too, as elsewhere, we find the narrative rich in spiritual lessons. We should observe, first, in this passage, how much sorrow sin has brought into the world. A sorrowful case is brought before us. We are told of a man "who was blind from his birth." A more serious affliction can hardly be conceived. Of all the bodily crosses that can be laid on man, without taking away life, none perhaps is greater than the loss of sight. It cuts us off from some of the greatest enjoyments of life. It shuts us up within a narrow world of our own. It makes us painfully helpless and dependent on others. In fact, until men lose their eyesight, they never fully realize its value. Now blindness, like every other bodily infirmity, is one of the fruits of sin. If Adam had never fallen, we cannot doubt that people would never have been blind, or deaf, or mute. The many ills that flesh is heir to, the countless pains, and diseases, and physical defects to which we are all liable, came in when the curse came upon the earth. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." (Rom. 5:12.) Let us learn to hate sin with a godly hatred, as the root of more than half of our cares and sorrows. Let us fight against it, mortify it, crucify it, and abhor it both in ourselves and others. There cannot be a clearer proof that man is a fallen creature than the fact that he can love sin and take pleasure in it. We should observe, secondly, in this passage, what a solemn lesson Christ gives us about the use of opportunities.

You observe that a very speculative question had been put to our Lord, and His answer to that very speculative question is, "I must work." His disciples wished to know something about the mysterious fact that some persons are born in an unhappy condition—blind, or deaf, or dumb—on what account they were sent into the world under such disadvantageous circumstances. Would you not, yourselves, like to know? Do you not wish that the Savior had expounded all that mystery? There are so many points of controversy connected with that question that He could scarcely have had a more suggestive topic.

You observe that a very speculative question had been put to our Lord, and His answer to that very speculative question is, "I must work." His disciples wished to know something about the mysterious fact that some persons are born in an unhappy condition—blind, or deaf, or dumb—on what account they were sent into the world under such disadvantageous circumstances. Would you not, yourselves, like to know? Do you not wish that the Savior had expounded all that mystery? There are so many points of controversy connected with that question that He could scarcely have had a more suggestive topic. Surely He might have enlightened us far more than Socrates or Plato. Why did He not, at once, with such a noble opportunity, plunge into the labyrinth of metaphysics, or begin to expound predestination and open up the points in it which agree or disagree with free agency? Here was a noble opportunity for interpreting all the marvels of Divine Sovereignty and natural suffering! Why did He not at once open all this up to the people? No, but with a very short answer He turns to them and says, "I must work. You may think. You may talk. You may argue, but I must work. You may give yourselves up, if you know no better, to the inferior occupation of jangling about words, but I must work.

IF this ninth chapter of John is intended to be a continuation of the history contained in the eighth, as we think it is, it brings before us a very extraordinary fact. You will observe in the eighth chapter that our Lord was about to be stoned by the Jews. He therefore withdrew Himself from the circle of His infuriated foes, and passed through the crowd, not, I think, in a hurried manner, but in a calm and dignified way—as one not at all disconcerted, but wholly self-possessed. His disciples, who had seen His danger, gathered round Him while He quietly retreated. The group wended their way with firm footsteps till they reached the outside of the Temple. At the gate there sat a man well-known to have been blind from his birth. Our Savior was so little flurried by the danger which had threatened Him that He paused and fixed His eyes upon the poor beggar, attentively surveying him. He stayed His onward progress to work the miracle of this man's healing. If it is so that the two chapters make up but one narrative, and I think it is, though we are not absolutely sure, then we have before us a most memorable instance of the marvelous calmness of our Savior while under danger. When the Jews took up stones to stone Him, He did not needlessly expose His life, but after He had withdrawn a very little space from the immediate danger He was struck by the sight of human misery and stood still awhile in all calmness of heart to do a deed or mercy. Oh, the Divine majesty of benevolence! How brave it makes a man! How it leads him to forget himself and despise danger, and become so calm that He can coolly perform the work which is given him to do! I think I see our Savior thus considerate for others, and unmindful of Himself.

OBSERVE, dear Friends, how little disconcerted our Lord Jesus Christ was by the most violent opposition of His enemies. The Jews took up stones to stone Him and He hid Himself from them. But almost the moment after, when He had passed, perhaps, through a single court and was sufficiently out of range to be unobserved by them, He stood still and fixed His eyes upon a blind beggar who had been sitting near the Temple gate.

OBSERVE, dear Friends, how little disconcerted our Lord Jesus Christ was by the most violent opposition of His enemies. The Jews took up stones to stone Him and He hid Himself from them. But almost the moment after, when He had passed, perhaps, through a single court and was sufficiently out of range to be unobserved by them, He stood still and fixed His eyes upon a blind beggar who had been sitting near the Temple gate. I am afraid that the most of us would have had no heart to help even the most needy while we were escaping from a shower of stones! And if we had attempted the work, moved by supreme compassion, we would have gone about it blunderingly, in a great hurry and certainly would not have talked calmly and wisely, as the Savior did when He answered His disciples' question and went on to talk with them. One of the things worthy to be noticed in our Lord's Character is His wonderful quiet spirit, especially His marvelous calmness in the presence of those who misjudged, insulted and slandered Him. He is reviled often, but never ruffled. He is often in deaths but always full of life. No doubt He felt keenly all the contradictions of sinners against Himself, for in a passage in the Psalms which refers to the Messiah, we read, "Reproach has broken My heart," yet the Lord Jesus did not permit His feelings to overcome Him—He was quiet and self-possessed, acting with a profound disregard of the calumnies and assaults of His bitter enemies. One reason, I take it, for His being so self-contained was that He was never elated by the praise of men.

The works of him ... - The works of beneficence and mercy which God has commissioned me to do, and which are expressive of his goodness and power. This was on the Sabbath day Joh 9:14; and though Jesus had endangered his life (John 5:1-16 by working a similar miracle on the Sabbath, yet he knew that this was the will of God that he should do good, and that he would take care of his life. While it is day - The day is the proper time for work - night is not. This is the general, the universal sentiment. While the day lasts it is proper to labor. The term “day” here refers to the life of Jesus, and to the opportunity thus afforded of working miracles. His life was drawing to a close. It was probably but about six months after this when he was put to death. The meaning is, My life is near its close. While it continues I must employ it in doing the works which God has appointed. The night cometh - Night here represents death. It was drawing near, and he must therefore do what he had to do soon. It is not improbable, also, that this took place near the close of the Sabbath, as the sun was declining, and the shades of evening about to appear. This supposition will give increased beauty to the language which follows. No man can work - It is literally true that day is the appropriate time for toil, and that the night of death is a time when nothing can be done. Ecc 9:10; “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave.” From this we may learn: 1. That it is our duty to employ all our time in doing the will of God. 2. That we should seek for opportunities of doing good, and suffer none to pass without improving it. We go but once through the world, and we cannot return to correct errors, and recall neglected opportunities of doing our duty. 3. We should be especially diligent in doing our Lord’s work from the fact that the night of death is coming. […]