Matius 5:46-47

5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors ¹  do the same, don’t they? 5:47 And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?

Yohanes 9:31

9:31 We know that God doesn’t listen to ²  sinners, but if anyone is devout ³  and does his will, God ⁴  listens to ⁵  him. ⁶ 

Yohanes 9:1

Healing a Man Born Blind

9:1 Now as Jesus was passing by, ⁷  he saw a man who had been blind from birth.

Titus 1:13-16

1:13 Such testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply that they may be healthy in the faith 1:14 and not pay attention to Jewish myths ⁸  and commands of people who reject the truth. 1:15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 1:16 They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

[5:46]  ¹ sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked.

[9:31]  ² tn Grk “God does not hear.”

[9:31]  ³ tn Or “godly.”

[9:31]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:31]  ⁵ tn Or “hears.”

[9:31]  ⁶ tn Grk “this one.”

[9:1]  ⁷ tn Or “going along.” The opening words of chap. 9, καὶ παράγων (kai paragwn), convey only the vaguest indication of the circumstances.

[9:1]  sn Since there is no break with chap. 8, Jesus is presumably still in Jerusalem, and presumably not still in the temple area. The events of chap. 9 fall somewhere between the feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2) and the feast of the Dedication (John 10:22). But in the author’s narrative the connection exists – the incident recorded in chap. 9 (along with the ensuing debates with the Pharisees) serves as a real-life illustration of the claim Jesus made in 8:12, I am the light of the world. This is in fact the probable theological motivation behind the juxtaposition of these two incidents in the narrative. The second serves as an illustration of the first, and as a concrete example of the victory of light over darkness. One other thing which should be pointed out about the miracle recorded in chap. 9 is its messianic significance. In the OT it is God himself who is associated with the giving of sight to the blind (Exod 4:11, Ps 146:8). In a number of passages in Isa (29:18, 35:5, 42:7) it is considered to be a messianic activity.

[1:14]  ⁸ sn Jewish myths were legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete. See parallels in 1 Tim 1:4; 4:7; and 2 Tim 4:4.