9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
The best way to understand this event is as happening right after the events of John 8, I suppose. So, Jesus passes by those that would stone him and is now passing by this man.
"...a man blind from birth" - this is, likely, how the community knows this man. His birth defect is his identity.
"Who sinned?" - kind of a messed up question, but it reflects the way of thinking in that time.
Another example of this kind of thinking is the view on leprosy. People in this time believed that leprosy was the manifestation of God's judgment against sin. Many illnesses and conditions were viewed in this manner.
So, the disciples believed that one of the man's parents had sinned so egregiously, that God had exacted vengeance against them by making their son blind from birth.
Jesus rejects that thought out of hand.
"...but that the works of God might be displayed in him." God has a plan, even for a man born blind. God can use any person, even those that society rejects.
"I must work the works of him who sent me" -- Jesus has a job to do. He doesn't waste time; he does what needs to be done. He is a perfect laborer.
What is the night that is coming referring to? Well, based on what has just happened (an intended stoning), it is the culmination of his earthly ministry, which will be his death.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” So he went and washed and came back seeing.
I love this imagery of light, when it comes to Jesus. Biologically speaking, if we have no light, we have no sight.
I like to use this example: imagine yourself in a totally dark room. Pitch black. You cannot see a thing. You are on one side, and you have been asked to cross over to the other side. You're running into stuff, left and right. You can hardly go a step at a time without bumping something, smashing your toes into something else, or tripping over an object you can't see.
Jesus is the light. He reveals those things which are obstacles. He reveals the sin that causes us to stumble, to trip up, and he reveals to us a better path than blind fumbling.
Verse 6, why did Jesus use saliva and make dirt? Couldn't he just heal him with his word? Well, yes.
I've heard theories that Jesus is intentionally harkening back to the creation account in Genesis with his actions. I'm not sure of all that.
Jesus uses his spit in other healings found in the Gospels. What does this all mean? I don't know. And I don't really think the method is the point.
Now, the man cannot see immediately once the mud is on. He does not know Jesus. He has no reason to believe that this will make any difference, and yet, He listens to Jesus' command. He finds a way to the pool because Jesus asked that of him.
The man was sent to the Pool of Siloam, which means "Sent" by the one sent from God.
Imagine how different this man's life would be, if he had said no.
8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
This is truly astounding miracle. His entire community has only ever known him as a blind man, but now his blindness does not define his life. His life has been transformed, to the point that people can hardly recognize him.
That is what Christ does. He transforms our lives. He heals our brokenness, in a way that leaves people wondering if it is even possible.
Verse 12 really makes me laugh. This guy has never seen Jesus. He has spoken to him once, and he managed to get his name. And yet, the people that recognize him, in essence, ask... "Hey, when you were blind, where was the last place you saw Jesus?"
By the way, giving sight to the blind is exactly the kind of work that the Messiah was prophesied to do.
The Pharisees would know those prophecies. And yet, we'll see that the Pharisees are blind in a totally different sense.
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
"...the man who had formerly been blind" - this is a change in identity. Now he is not defined by his birth defect, but he is defined by the miracle of what has happened to him. He was blind, but by God's power he is now formerly blind.
Oof. Jesus is doing another miracle on the Sabbath (he did it earlier in John 5). He is not unaware of the Sabbath; he is sending a message.
Acts of mercy were not forbidden on the Sabbath.
And think of how ridiculous this whole situation is, in this particular story. Jesus made mud. That is what they take issue with.
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
"How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" - this sounds a lot like Nicodemus from John 3. I think we can assume what side he falls on.
Jesus echoes the question asked in verse 16 in the next chapter. John 10:37-38, "If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me. But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father."
The people of Israel kept searching for signs, the Pharisees even asked for signs multiple times (Matthew 12:38, Matthew 16:1, Mark 8:11), and Jesus does the signs! And yet, they still do not believe in Him.
This is obstinateness. The proof has been laid out before them.
Even with this simple statement, "He is a prophet." This man understands Jesus infinitely better than any of the Pharisees, and he only knows a fraction of the truth.
18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
Never has a parent so quickly thrown their kid under the bus. It is almost impossible to fathom.
They are saying, "He was blind. Now, he is not. And we want no part of this."
To be "put out of the synagogue" is not a light threat, though. It would have serious repercussions. They would be considered unclean, sinful, not a part of the community
They would have been treated in the same way people would have treated a leper, or perhaps a man born blind.
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
If this man is allowed to tell of what Jesus has done for him, it may rally the people behind him, which would undermine their authority.
This man can only speak to what he knows. He must understand the pressure he is facing, the consequences that could arise from what he says. But, he tells the truth as fully as he knows it. It is admirable.
26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
"Do you also want to become his disciples?" - This is a great line. It is hard to believe he was not intentionally trying to irk them. Again, admirable considering what they could do to him or his family.
Is this man now identifying himself as a follower of Jesus? His phrasing suggests that. Or, he is referring to the disciples that Jesus was speaking to before he healed him?
Based on what comes next, it seems like he had begun his journey in discipleship.
30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
This man makes good arguments, based on sound theology, and the Pharisees resort to attacking his character, his station, his social status.
This shows their disdain for the common people. They were not interested in leading/teaching God's people; they only wanted honor and glory for themselves.
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
I love that Jesus went looking for this man. Jesus seeks the outcasts. He reaches out to those who have been cast out by the world, rejected by the world, hated by the world.
The threat of being "put out of the synagogue" is the reality for this formerly blind man. He has officially been "cast out".
I wonder what became of his parents?
It makes me think of this verse, from Luke 14:26, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sister, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."
Hate = by comparison. It is highlighting the fact that Jesus asks us to make him the foundation, the love of our life, so that nothing can come between us and Jesus.
This man received infinitely more than he lost.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains."
We see by not seeing. Faith sees for us.
Anyone that comes to Jesus in humility, ready to acknowledge their sin and blindness, can receive life and healing in his name.
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