1

After having met a man that had been healed on the Sabbath the Jews made it clear to him that they were not pleased by what Christ had done for him

John 5:10 NIV

and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

Later on the healed man meets Christ in the temple and straight away goes out to the Jews to identify Christ to his accusers

John 5:15

The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Having heard the accusations of the Jews which probably carried a death sentence the man finds it neccessary to identify Christ to his accusers

In another similar incident in John 9 the healed man goes out of his way to defend Christ from his accusers

John 9:17 NIV

Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

John 9:24-25 NIV

A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

John 9:30-33 MIV

The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

Unlike the healed man in John 9 the lame man somehow doesn't seem to defend his healer as much as the other one.

Was the lame man trying to placate the Jews?

1
  • The lame man did not know who had healed him till Jesus approached him later, warning him about sinning. As he was already in the temple, he told those who had accused him of sinning that Jesus had healed him. He might have been anxious to have their charge of him sinning removed. "I didn't do anything wrong; Jesus told me to pick up my mat, after he'd miraculously healed me!" The other man had been blind and so did not know who had healed him. He robustly stood up to questioning and disproved their view of Jesus being a sinner but we can't conclude one was placating his accusers.
    – Anne
    Jun 2, 2022 at 10:21

1 Answer 1

1

The short answer to this question is, We do not know because we are not told what each of these men was thinking. However, here is a plausible scenario which I cannot prove:

John 5

In the case of the healed man in John 5, he may have reasoned that a man capable of healing as Jesus healed, is possibly invincible and so immune to attack from mere humans like the Jews.

John 9

The man born blind in the story of John 9 has a different character that is more bold. The fact that he can call out the duplicity of Jews by beginning a speech with "Now that is remarkable!", is smart and bold. In any case, he healed man was ignorant of who Christ was and only discovered His identity when Jesus later found him.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.