14: Physical blindness – spiritual blindness — John 9:1–41


9As he walked along, 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, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed 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. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, ⁷ saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. ⁸ The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”
¹⁰ But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

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 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. ¹⁷ So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

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 we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”  ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 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 Then 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.” ³⁰ The man answered, “Here is an astonishing 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 he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. ³² Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”^{a  36} He answered, “And who is he, sir?^a Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” ³⁸ He said, “Lord I believe.” And he worshiped him. ³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.”
⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Why would the disciples ask a question about who sinned in reference to a blind person? How does Jesus respond to the question?

2. What does Jesus say about sin in this exchange? What does he say about his work? Do you think the disciples understood Jesus’ point here?

3. What does Jesus do about the blind man? Why do you think he used the mud rather than just healing directly?

4. What happens next to the man? How do his friends and neighbors react? How do the Pharisees get involved in this situation? What is their main concern? How does the man answer the questions? How would you have responded?

6. Why do the Jews have such a hard time accepting this healing? What are they really trying to discover? How do the man’s parents respond to this miracle? Why do you think they reacted this way?

8. How does the man deal with round two of the questioning? How do the Pharisees respond to this turn of events? 

9. What does Jesus do after the man is sent out from the Pharisees? How does the man respond to Jesus’ question? What does he really need to know?

Get Personal

What do you recall about your first “meeting” with Jesus? Did it involve healing or “fixing” something? Have there been times when your natural sight has made you blind to God’s truth or to God’s actions in your life? How has God helped you to become “blind” so that you might “see” his kingdom? 

9:1. Blind — blindness figures throughout the Bible. Both for compassion and for avoidance as punishment for doing wrong, as in the disciples’ question about who sinned. Blindness often is a symbol of misunderstanding or not seeing and acknowledging the truth about God — or about Jesus as this chapter details.
9:4-5. Night . . . light — Jesus contrasts darkness – with no understanding – with the light of his presence as the Word of God, or full understanding.
9:7. Siloam — this pool provided the sacred water used for the Feast of Tabernacles. Elisha also sent a person to water (the Jordan River) to be healed, [details are in 2 Kings 5:10-14].
9.17. Prophet – the man is correct –

Jesus is the ultimate declaration of who God is. 
9:21. Of age — to testify – 13 for a Jewish male.
9:22. Put out — the synagogue was the center of social as well as religious life. Expulsion would make a person an outcast from the community.
9:25. Know — ultimately this is all we can say as well: “I was not in a relationship with God and now I am in a loving, saving relationship with God – because of Jesus Christ.”
9:39-41. Blind — Jesus uses the term as a metaphor for spiritual blindness – the Pharisees can not understand the truth of God’s kingdom because they can “see” only the things of this world.