The Man Born Blind
TRANSLATION
(1) And as Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. (2) His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (3) Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in him. (4) We must do the work of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. (5) As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (6) After saying this, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. He then placed the mud on the man’s eyes (7) and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which means ‘sent’)”. He went and washed and came back seeing.
(8) His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” (9) Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, it looks like him.” He said, “I am the man.” (10) So they asked him, “How then were your eyes opened?” (11) He responded, “The man called Jesus made mud and put it on my eyes and then said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So, I went and washed and gained my sight.” (12) They asked him, “Where is he?” He responded, “I don’t know.”
OBSERVATIONS
To confirm that he truly is the “light of the world,” Jesus restored the sight of the man blind from birth. Numerous repetitions are found in this passage and point us to its message. “Man” occurred seven times, referring to the man who was healed six times (vss. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, & 9) and once to Jesus (vs. 11). Words having to do with the sense of sight occurred six times: “blind” twice (vss. 1 & 2), “eyes” three times (vss. 6, 10, & 11), and “sight” once (vs. 11). Three uses of “work” are found (in vss. 3 & 4). “Mud” also is found (three times in vss. 6 & 11) as well as four occurrences of “wash/washed” (in vss. 7 & 11). “Beggar/beg” occurred twice (in vs. 8), and the phrase, “sinned…this man or his parents,” is found both in the disciples’ question (vs. 2) as well as in Jesus’ answer (vs. 3).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus and his disciples discussed why the beggar had been born blind. (1-5)
II. Jesus miraculously healed the man born blind. (6 & 7)
III. The man healed of blindness testified to his neighbors and others regarding the miracle. (8-12)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus, before healing the man born blind, revealed to his disciples that God’s reasons for allowing such disabilities are vastly different from what we would naturally assume.
APPLICATION
In Isaiah 55:8 the prophet, speaking for Yahweh, recorded, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” The huge disparity that can exist between our conclusions and God’s true purposes was made evident in the case of Jesus healing the man born blind. The disciples assumed, along with everyone else, that his disability was due to God punishing sin. Jesus corrected their erroneous conclusion by responding that his blindness was allowed so that his healing might become a means of displaying God’s power (vs. 3).
Throughout this episode, the physical disability of the man born blind was juxtaposed with the spiritual blindness of everyone else, first, the disciples, then the man’s family and friends, and, finally, with the Jewish leaders. Although all had witnessed Jesus performing an unprecedented miracle, none was able to grasp the spiritual significance of what Jesus had done. Throughout the remainder of the chapter the one who had been born blind would struggle to help everyone see what his physical healing really signified regarding the identity of the one who had miraculously opened his eyes.