John chapter 9 opens with an account of Jesus restoring vision to a man who had been blind since birth (John 9:1-7). Afterward, the man’s neighbors question him. The man tells his neighbors that Jesus healed his blindness (John 9:8-12). The neighbors take the man to a group of the religious leadership of the time known as the Pharisees. 

The Pharisees begin to question the man regarding his healing (John 9:13-17). Instead of rejoicing at the miracle bestowed upon the man, the Pharisees took objection to the man having been healed on the Jewish Sabbath (John 9:14). As the interrogation continued, the man’s parents were also questioned. Fearing that they would be put out of the synagogue, the man’s parents left their son to defend himself (John 9:18-23). This led to the man being called in front of the Pharisees for a second time. 

This interrogation ended with the Pharisees outright reviling the man. They declared themselves to be disciples of Moses and the man to be a disciple of Jesus, with the implication that the Pharisees considered themselves superior (John 9:28-29). John chapter 9 ends with the man again encountering Jesus, this time in front of the Pharisees. The man declares his acceptance of Jesus, who uses the situation to emphasize a lesson about himself and the Pharisees. Jesus knew that he would not be accepted by the religious leadership, who sought to use their knowledge and authority as a means to hold power over the people (John 9:39: “they that see”—the Pharisees who had access to the Scriptures and had developed a knowledge over them—“may become blind”—because they sought to hold their own personal power, they could not bring themselves to recognize Jesus as the foretold Messiah and King). Jesus then taught the simple yet powerful lesson that he alone is the “true shepherd,” capable of leading his followers to salvation (John 10:1-7). Any who would offer another means to salvation were compared to “thieves and robbers” (John 10:8).

The fear that the Pharisees instilled in the people drove a wedge between the man and his parents. Through such fear, the Pharisees also kept many of the Jewish people away from Jesus. From this perspective, the Pharisees could be considered “thieves and robbers” because their actions “robbed” the people from recognizing their Messiah. By declaring themselves as “disciples of Moses” and instructing the people to follow them and disregard Jesus they led many of the Jewish people away from Jesus. Jesus taught that he and he alone provides the only means to salvation (John 14:6, for example). Leading people away from this simple truth in turn leads people away from the understanding of salvation, “robbing” them of the opportunity to recognize Jesus and “stealing” their chance to follow him.

Christians today have the added benefit of the New Testament writings which declare the same message of Jesus being the only means to salvation (Acts 4:10-12 and 1 Timothy 2:5, as examples). Although those who seek salvation today do not have the Pharisees to contend with, there are, nonetheless, people and institutions who set themselves up to either offer or even be alternative roads to salvation. Some declare that to approach Jesus, or even God, one must “go through” other people or objects. Christians, therefore, have the need to remain wary even today, thousands of years after the events of John chapters 9 and 10. “Thieves and robbers” still exist, maybe in different forms, but they are still present with the same intentional or unintentional impact of “stealing” the understanding of the only true means to salvation so abundantly taught by the Scriptures.

Additional Resources:
Christian Questions Podcast
Episode #1318: “What Did Jesus Really Think of the Pharisees? (Part I)”
How Jesus exposed the deep hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes

Episode #1242: “Is the Lord Really My Shepherd?”
The amazing, little-known details of shepherding that show us God’s love
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes