John 9:28 Commentary and Bible Study

They shouted at him. Literally they hurled abuse at him and they said, ‘Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.’ We follow Moses, they said. They didn’t. All they did was follow the ceremonial law which they had corrupted and added to. The ceremonial law given through Moses was good and wholesome and was given to the Jews until Christ came, a way of worship which would teach them about his coming. It was to teach the Jews about Christ through types and shadows, but the many of them treated it as an end in itself. They treated it as if the sacrifice of animals could really take away sin, as if the temple on earth was the ultimate temple, as if close adherence to the ceremonial law could make them acceptable to God. They refused to come to Christ for true forgiveness even though he was the fulfilment of the types and shadows. Also they added their own additional rules to it, and completely ignored the moral law which was also given through Moses. As we have been seeing in the preceding chapters, they failed to keep the Ten Commandments: they wanted to murder Christ – ‘Thou shalt not kill’; they were adulterers and they had to leave in shame when he challenged them about which of them was without sin. Moses called for heart religion, but they had no heart religion. They didn’t know God, they didn’t sincerely love him and follow him; they were just proud people who kept outward ceremonial instructions. Moses had said ‘You must listen to Messiah when he comes. There’s a great Prophet arising Who God will send, in many ways like me, but he is the One Who you must expect and you must listen to’, and they didn’t; they hated him.