John 9 · WEB
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John 9

Jesus heals a man born blind

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents, but that the works of God might be revealed in him. I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.

Therefore the neighbors and those who saw that he was blind before said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.”

They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”

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.”

Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”

Seeing a man blind from birth, the disciples ask whose sin caused it, his or his parents'; Jesus says neither, but that God's works are to be shown in him. He makes mud with saliva, puts it on the man's eyes and sends him to wash in the pool of Siloam. The man comes back seeing, and his neighbours argue over whether he is the same man.

What does this mean?

Siloam means "sent", as the narrator explains; the Gospel often describes Jesus as the one "sent" by the Father. "Anointed" here simply means smeared.

Historical context

Many people in the ancient world, including some Jewish teachers, connected illness and disability with sin; the book of Job argues against a simple link. Saliva was used in ancient folk remedies. A large pool from the Second Temple period, identified by its excavators as the pool of Siloam, was uncovered in southern Jerusalem in 2004.

Why does it matter?

The healing acts out Jesus' claim to be "the light of the world" (8:12, 9:5). The chapter that follows is carefully built: the man gradually comes to see who Jesus is, while those who claim to see become more resistant.

Editorial notes, not scripture.

The Pharisees question the healed man

They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 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.”

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.

Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

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, and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 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.” 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. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”

The man is brought to the Pharisees, since the healing took place on a Sabbath. They are divided: some say Jesus cannot be from God because he broke the Sabbath, others ask how a sinner could do such signs. They summon the man's parents, who confirm he was born blind but, afraid, refuse to say more.

What does this mean?

"Put out of the synagogue" (KJV and WEB) means expelled from the community's place of prayer and gathering, a serious social exclusion. The man's verdict, "He is a prophet", is his next step in recognising Jesus.

Historical context

Making mud and healing on the Sabbath could be viewed as work forbidden on that day. Verse 22 says the authorities had agreed to expel anyone who confessed Jesus as Christ. Many scholars think this reflects tensions in the late first century, when the Gospel was probably written, more than in Jesus' own lifetime; others question that reconstruction.

Why does it matter?

Here "the Pharisees" and "the Jews" refer to the same authorities, while the parents, also Jewish, fear them. Expulsion from the synagogue returns at 12:42 and 16:2.

Editorial notes, not scripture.

The blind man testifies

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.”

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.”

They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

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?”

They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”

The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 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. Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out.

Called back a second time, the man is told to "give glory to God" and admit that Jesus is a sinner, but he replies that one thing he does know: he was blind and now he sees. When they press him, he asks, perhaps mockingly, whether they want to become Jesus' disciples too. They insult him and throw him out.

What does this mean?

"Give God the praise" (KJV) or "Give glory to God" (WEB) was a formula for urging someone to tell the truth under oath, as in Joshua 7:19. "Reviled" (KJV) means insulted.

Historical context

Being "disciples of Moses" meant following the law given through Moses, the foundation of Jewish religious life. The opponents trust that God spoke to Moses; their uncertainty is about where Jesus comes from.

Why does it matter?

The healed man becomes bolder with each questioning, while his questioners grow more fixed. His argument that no one could open the eyes of someone born blind unless sent by God echoes the Gospel's central claim about Jesus.

Editorial notes, not scripture.

Sight and blindness

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”

Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”

He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.

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.”

Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

Jesus finds the man after he has been thrown out and asks whether he believes in the Son of God; when Jesus reveals that he is the one, the man believes and worships him. Jesus says he came so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind. Some Pharisees ask whether they are blind too.

What does this mean?

"For judgment" means that Jesus' coming exposes and sorts people by their response. "Your sin remaineth" (KJV) means their guilt stands, because they claim to see.

Historical context

In verse 35 the KJV and WEB read "Son of God"; many of the earliest manuscripts read "Son of Man", Jesus' usual way of referring to himself, and most modern translations follow them.

Why does it matter?

The chapter closes by turning physical blindness into a picture of spiritual blindness. The man's journey, from "a man called Jesus" (9:11) to "a prophet" (9:17) to "from God" (9:33) to worship (9:38), is often seen as a model of growing faith.

Editorial notes, not scripture.

Translation

KJVTraditional biblical languageWEBContemporary English

Chapters

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21

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Reading

Translation

KJVTraditional biblical languageWEBContemporary English

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

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