*John 9:1-41
Jesus heals a man born blind, sparking debate about sin and leading him to declare himself the light of the world.
- The Miracle of Healing:
- Jesus encounters a man blind from birth and his disciples question whose sin caused his blindness.
- Jesus clarifies that the blindness wasn’t due to sin but was an opportunity to reveal God’s works.
- He heals the man by mixing mud with His saliva, applying it to the man’s eyes, and instructing him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.
- The man follows Jesus’ directions and gains sight, causing astonishment among neighbors.
- Interrogation by the Pharisees:
- The Pharisees summon the healed man to investigate the healing, which occurred on the Sabbath.
- Some Pharisees accuse Jesus of violating the Sabbath, while others are puzzled by His miraculous power.
- The healed man’s parents are also questioned but avoid giving a clear answer due to fear of being expelled from the synagogue.
- The man firmly maintains that Jesus is a prophet, leading to further questioning and ultimately, his expulsion from the synagogue.
- Spiritual Blindness Revealed:
- Jesus finds the man after he is expelled and asks if he believes in the Son of Man.
- The man expresses faith, worshiping Jesus as Lord.
- Jesus uses this incident to illustrate spiritual blindness, stating that He came to make the blind see and to expose the blindness of those who think they see.
- The Pharisees, realizing the implication, ask if Jesus considers them blind, to which He responds that their certainty in their own sight keeps them in sin.
John 9:1-41 reminds us that God can use even the hardest situations for a greater purpose. The blind man’s healing shows that Jesus brings both physical and spiritual sight. Sometimes, like the Pharisees, we can be so stuck in our own way of thinking that we miss what God is doing. This passage encourages us to trust Jesus, even when others doubt or question our faith. It also reminds us to be open to God’s truth, allowing Him to change the way we see the world and the people around us.
John 9:1-41 (WEB)
9:1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”3 Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents, but that the works of God might be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.8 Therefore the neighbors and those who saw that he was blind before said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” 9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.”He said, “I am he.”10 They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”11 He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”12 Then they asked him, “Where is he?”He said, “I don’t know.”13 They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.”Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” So there was division among them.17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?”He said, “He is a prophet.”18 The Jews therefore didn’t believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”20 His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”24 So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”25 He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”26 They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?”28 They insulted him and said, “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 don’t know where he comes from.”30 The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he listens to him. 32 Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”34 They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out.35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”36 He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”38 He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”40 Those of the Pharisees who were with 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 sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.