As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this was so that the works of God might be manifested in him. 4 We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; 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 clay of the saliva, and rubbed the clay on his eyes, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. 8 Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?” 9 Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.” 10 So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and rubbed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so when I went away and washed, I received sight.” 12 And they said to him, “Where is He?” He *said, “I do not know.” John 9: 1-12 LSB
John 9: 1-12
V. 1 He saw a man blind from birth - Jesus has just referred to Himself in the last passage as, "I Am", which is the ancient Hebrew name for the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the name by which He is to be remembered throughout the generations. This was very clear to the crowd who initially had started to believe in Him, but as He continued to teach their mood changed, and when He called Himself, God, it was unmistakable, so they tried to stone Him. Now His disciples are asking Him about a man with congenital blindness, which was a common result of babies being born to women with Syphilis back then, and still in some third world countries today. Some think this the reason for the disciple's line of questioning, but I think it has more to do with bad doctrine.
V. 2 Who sinned, this man or his parents - Remember, these people's teachers are the Scribes and Pharisees, who heard John the Baptist and Jesus' call to repent and believe, but they didn't think themselves sinners. The disciples have heard and hold to some of the same mentality, and all without very good excuse, only the excuse of bad information passed down over and over again. Again, we can look back through the OT and see the glaring example of Job. He was more righteous than his friends, but because he suffered they saw him as being in the throws of some great and unrepentant sin. They belonged to a school of thought very similar to the modern day prosperity gospel. The sign of them being godly or righteous was tied to the fact that they were wealthy and healthy. I know some very wicked men who are wealthy, physically fit, and well liked by many, and so would these if they thought it through rather than taking comfort in their own worldly possessions. Imagine putting so much weight on something so trivial as today when there is yet all of eternity. Much of their question comes from a misunderstanding of verses about God "visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me".
…4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.… Exodus 20: 4-6
Wycliffe Bible translators Bob and Jan Smutherman were assigned to the Macuna people of southeast Colombia, South America. Progress was going well in putting the Bible into the Macuna language. The chief’s son was engaged as the language helper. Each portion of the Scripture had to be checked and double-checked for meaning and clarity.
After five years of labor, the Gospel of John was being finalized for publication. Gathered together to hear the Word of God, the tribe sat patiently.
Beginning at John 9:1, the son read about Jesus’ encounter with the man born blind. When he got to the verse where Jesus says that this man was born blind “in order that the works of God might be put on display,” the old chief stood to his feet. Requiring silence by his uplifted right hand, he said, “We must stop killing our babies.” To a people steeped in animism, the normal process was to take their deformed babies to a desolate place. There the babies were deserted and exposed until dead.
The implications of the gospel became shockingly clear upon hearing of a better way. - Philip L. McKown
V. 3 Neither this man nor his parents - They need not be viewed as greater sinners than the Pharisees or the disciples, as with Job, that is not the point, and we know as well that whom the Lord loveth He chaseneth. Death, disease, and all manner of spiritual blindness entered the world through sin. We are not now paying for the sins of Adam and Eve though, as some would try to propose, and it is a huge part of our current culture to try to punish people for what their great, great grandparents did and even further back, yet in Scripture it is the soul that sins that must die. We have all come under, been born into Adam's curse, but none of us without sin. We all prove ourselves sinners every day in that we sin. Those that seek reparations today are very selective of who they seek it from. We all come from Adam and Eve, and so if you come after me because I have less melanin than you, you are the racists, not I. People seeking this do so foolishly and selectively because every person can lay claim to some ill in the past, but everyone also looks over the ill of those most like them. What about the Africans who sold other Africans? Apparently this sort of thinking still persists. I recommend reading Ezekiel 18.
14 “Now behold, he has a son who has seen all his father’s sins which he has done. And he saw this but does not do likewise. 15 He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife 16 or mistreat anyone, or retain a pledge or commit robbery, but he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing; 17 he turns his hand away from the afflicted, does not take interest or increase, but does My judgments and walks in My statutes; he will not die for his father’s iniquity; he will surely live. 18 As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.
19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?’ But the son has done justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them. He shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins will die. The son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. Ezekiel 18: 14-20
V. 4 Night is coming when no one can work - This part of His ministry was coming to an end, in about 6 months He would go to the cross. We all have but a little time here, and we should work as long as it is today.
…18For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. 19The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness. 20The LORD will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD.… Isaiah 38: 18-20
…15Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.… Ephesians 5: 15-17
V. 5 While I am in the world, I am the Light of the World - He is speaking of a coming transition that we know, from the other gospels, that they don't yet comprehend or receive. They have Christ with them, but then He must leave in order to send them a Comforter, and they, His Church, become the light of the world. This is the great work, like John the Baptist, diminishing till all they can see is Christ. There is a gospel message in here to this blind man it seems.
John Piper - This signals that something more is going on here than merely healing the man’s physical eyes so that he can see natural light. Jesus calls attention to the fact that he is the light this man needs to see. “I am the light of the world.” Which many blind people see, and many seeing people are blind to. (Born Blind for the Glory of God)
D L Moody - Atheist David Hume said to a minister, the light of nature was all he wanted. On going down stairs, Hume declined a light because the moon was high enough, and as he said it, he tumbled down stairs.
13You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.… Matthew 5: 13-15
V. 6 He spat on the ground, made clay of the saliva and rubbed it on his eyes - In the next verse He tells him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam. Obviously, I mean he does have dirt on his face now. So many things have been said as to why Jesus did this with the clay, why He used this particular method, but He chose sometimes to merely speak, other times He didn't even go to the sick person, and in the case of the woman with the blood issue, He doesn't speak to her until after she believes and is healed. Certainly many Pentecostals have tried to find the phrase that pays, how to hold their tongue just right, and probably tried to imitate Jesus in making clay as well. Their is a lot of speculation surrounding this, but I want to just leave a couple of simple observations about the dirt because I really don't know.
He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied (epichrio) the clay to his eyes - Note that Jesus took all the initiative in this miracle. The blind man was not asking for healing. Jesus chose different methods to carry out His miracles and this is certainly one of the more unusual. One writer surprisingly says the curative value of saliva was highly esteemed in antiquity. There is an interesting point about Jesus making clay on the Sabbath, for the additions to the law forbade kneading (working moistened flour or clay into dough or paste with the hands) on the Sabbath! - Precept Austin
V. 7 Go wash in the pool of Siloam - This reminds me of when Naaman came to Elisha to be rid of the uncleanness of leprosy, and Elisha sent him to the Jordan. His pride actually tempted him to not be made clean, to not follow the simple instruction of the prophet.
9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
16 But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 2 Kings 5: 9-16
V. 9 He kept saying, "I am the one" - After he washed he receive his sight, and people were obviously astonished, so much so that his neighbors thought it was him, and some even convinced themselves that it was just someone who looked like him. Everything else, other than not being blind anymore, and including his own testimony, point to it being him.
He went away and washed (nipto) - It is easy to read over this too quickly and fail to notice that he obeys without question or hesitation, doing exactly what Jesus had commanded. Notice secondly that Jesus does not (at least John records nothing) give him any specific motivation to go and wash. In other words, Jesus did not promise the man that he would receive his sight if he obeyed the commands. Nevertheless, the man obeyed. We learn later that he did know it was Jesus Who had commanded him (Jn 9:11). What did he know about Jesus? Did he know Jesus had performed signs and wonders? Had he heard the story about the lame man Jesus had healed in a previous trip to Jerusalem? (Jn 5:6-9+) These are possibilities but the text does not allow us to be dogmatic.
One thing we can say is the man walked by faith and not by sight (cf 2Cor 5:7+), because he had no sight! Why do I say he walked by faith? Because faith is invariably coupled with obedience and his obedience indicates that he had some degree of belief in Jesus' words, even though it is not clear he understood what the end result would be! Note however that while he manifested some degree of faith, it was not yet saving faith. And as the narrative unfolds we see this man eventually manifested genuine saving belief in Jesus (Jn 9:36-38), so that not only was his physical blindness healed, but more importantly, his spiritual blindness was healed! The progression of this man's faith would suggest that often faith is a process. Recall that in John 8 we encountered Jews who had some degree of faith in Jesus (Jn 8:30-31+), but their subsequent actions (e.g., Jn 8:59+) proved their faith had not progressed to genuine saving faith. As we follow the progression of this blind man's faith, note that the radical contrast of the Jews picking up stones to throw at Jesus (Jn 8:59+), with this man throwing himself down before Jesus in worship (Jn 9:38+)! - Precept Austin
V. 10 How then were your eyes opened - Okay, we believe it's you, or explain this then, if you were blind then how is it you now see? I'm sure the gospel somehow rings in there, for isn't that what happens to those who are born again? You were dead, now you are alive, deaf but now hear, blind but now see.
…4He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap. 5As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. 6Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.… Ecclesiastes 11: 4-6
V. 11 The Man Who is called Jesus - He knew Who put the clay on His eyes, and Who he obeyed when he went to wash them, but what does all this say about the Man Who told you to do this? Who commands the dirt, brings life and movement from the inert? Who creates the perception of an eye, the input of the ear or the mind that processes it all? Who speaks into Sarah's dead womb or tells Lazarus to come forth? Simple is best, and people today put far too much flare upon their testimony, and they emphasize what in reality is only speculation, but they sell it as Bible. Scripture is most important, what God said, and your testimony is the effect of God's word in your life. It is not your fancy car, but your convicted soul, your hunger for things you use to detest, that is what helps me and others to hear. It is humble, not puffed up, sincere, not trying to find excuses for what we once were, but ecstatic that we have been set free.
D L Moody - HE told a straightforward story, just what the Lord had done for him. That is all. That is what a witness ought to do—tell what he knows, not what he does not know. He did not try to make a long speech. It is not the most flippant and fluent witness who has the most influence with a jury.
This man’s testimony is what I call “experience.” One of the greatest hindrances to the progress of the gospel to-day is that the narration of the experience of the Church is not encouraged. There are a great many men and women who come into the Church, and we never hear anything of the Lord’s dealings with them. If we did, it would be a great help to others. It would stimulate faith and encourage the more feeble of the flock. The apostle Paul’s experience has been recorded three times. I have no doubt that he told it everywhere he went: how God had met him; how God had opened his eyes and his heart; and how God had blessed him.
Depend upon it, experience has its place; the great mistake that is made now is in the other extreme. In some places and at some periods there has been too much of it—it has been all experience; and now we have let the pendulum swing too far the other way. - Precept Austin
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