A Study of John 9:1-12

“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.””

John 9:1-12 ESV

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

As Jesus and His disciples saw a man blind from birth, the disciples asked Jesus if the man was born blind because he or his parents sinned. Jesus told them it was neither, but rather, in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. Next, Jesus told them, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After He said these things, Jesus spit on the ground and made some mud. Then, he covered the blind man’s eyes with mud and told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. So, the man went and washed and came back able to see.

Next, the people from the area who had seen the blind man begging everyday asked if this was not the same man who used to sit and beg. Some said it was him, others it was not but that he was like the blind beggar, but the man kept saying, “I am the man.” So, the people asked him how his eyes were opened, and he told them the man called Jesus anointed his eyes with mud and told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. He went and washed, and now could see. The people then asked him where Jesus was but the man did not know.

Textual Analysis and Implication (what is being said and what does this mean?):

The last chapter ended with Jesus slipping away from the Jerusalem temple when an angry mob wanted to kill him for claiming to be God incarnate. As this next chapter starts with the imprecise connector, “As He passed by,”, we can reasonably assume Jesus is still in Jerusalem. At this point Jesus saw a man blind from birth. Rather than being shaken from His recent near death encounter, Jesus took the time and care to notice a blind man begging. It is not clear how Jesus and the disciples knew the man was blind from birth. Perhaps the man communicated this fact as he begged, or maybe it was just common knowledge in the area. Whatever the case might be, it is notable to see how Jesus will carry on with His ministry even after the near violent confrontation in the temple. From a literary perspective, it might also be deduced that John has included this account of the blind man to add to the symbolism of this chapter which will speak to the spiritual blindness all are born with.

As they passed by, Jesus’ disciples asked Him if the man was born blind because of his parent’s sin or his own sin. The disciples assumption is that sin and suffering are inextricably linked and therefore all suffering is a result of sin. In a certain sense they are correct. The fall of mankind (Genesis 3) is the result of sin, and sin has resulted in suffering, decay and death. So, broadly speaking, suffering is a result of sin. But they went too far in trying to ascribe individual suffering to individual sin. Personal suffering can be a result of personal sin (think of Miriam’s leprosy in Numbers 12 or Jonah), but the Bible is clear that this is not always the case (consider Job or 2 Corinthians 12:7). In this situation, the disciples have wrongly assumed that this person suffering from a specific malady must have gotten this malady either as a result of his parent’s sin, or maybe some sin he committed in the womb. This was a common belief at the time, but it is an incorrect one, as Jesus will soon explain. In this assessment of the man’s condition, the disciples show themselves to be on the same plane of thinking as the miserable comforters of Job.

In response to the disciples’ question about why the man was born blind, Jesus said it was not because of the man’s sin or his parents, but rather, that the works of God might be displayed in him. So, the blindness was not caused by some specific sin by the man or his parents. Sometimes maladies are a result of specific sin, but most of the time ailments of all sorts are simply results of the fall. Ever since Adam and Eve first sinned, all of humanity has been subjected to the curse of sin which is death and decay. In a world under the curse of sin, death and suffering is normative. The reason that is not all we see or experience is because of God’s mercy and grace. And in His mercy and grace God works through the brokenness of this fallen world to draw people to Himself. In this case, the man’s blindness from birth was allowed by God so that He could reveal something about Himself to people.

Continuing on, in verses 4-5 Jesus goes on to say to His disciples, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” While the disciples presented a theological question to Jesus in regard to the blind man, Jesus did not dwell on a theological answer. He quickly provided such an answer, but then moved on to focus on the blind man’s situation and how He could help. When Jesus saw this man in great need, in addition to seeing a precious image bearer of God, He saw an opportunity to “work the works” of God while it is still day, with “day” referring to the time period of Jesus’ earthly ministry. And because Jesus knew His time on earth was short, He felt a sense of urgency which He spoke to by saying the night would soon come when no one could work, with “night” referring to the time between His death and resurrection.

Here we see Jesus as a worker. Most pagan religions of the world, certainly in the 1st century B.C. viewed work as demeaning, and as something the gods would never do. But here we see Jesus, the one true God incarnate, working and getting His hands dirty with urgency to seek and save lost souls. We also see the bravery of Jesus here. He just had an encounter with the Jewish religious authorities where they attempted to incite a mob to kill Him, but still, Jesus stopped when He saw a person in need, and He decided to take the opportunity to “work the works” of God in helping this man.

Next, After having declared Himself to be the light of the world, Jesus is about to give a man born blind the light of sight. Jesus spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva, then He covered the man’s eyes with it. In the ancient world the saliva of great teachers and prophets was thought to have healing properties, so this might not have seemed as strange to them as it does to us. Jesus is also recorded as using saliva a few other times in healings. He used it in healing the deaf and dumb man in the Decapolis (Mark 7:33) and the blind man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:23). 

But of course Jesus did not always heal people this way. He used diverse and varied methods to heal people because the power for the healing did not come from the method, but rather, from God. But there are few things to take note of in the method Jesus used. First, in the same way God formed humans from the dust of the ground, here, Jesus uses the dirt from the ground in healing this man. And second, it seems Jesus changed up the methods He used when healing people precisely to demonstrate that the power to heal was not in the method, but in Him.

After doing this, Jesus told the man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, and John the gospel writer adds that Siloam means “sent.” Then, the man did so and came back able to see. John perhaps calls attention to the meaning of Siloam to highlight the fact that Jesus, the one sent from heaven, came to this man to restore his sight. Jesus is the light of the world who stepped down into darkness and was not overcome. But as we read in John 1, and have seen in the rest of John’s account, this “sent one,” Jesus, is often rejected by the ones He was sent to save because instead of accepting the truth and believing Jesus, they take offense to His message. Here this man could have done the same. As this Rabbi smeared mud on his eyes and sent him to go and wash, the man could have taken offense and rejected the healing Jesus gave to Him, but he did not. The blind man accepted the loving touch of Jesus, obeyed His command, and he was healed. 

It is just so with us today in an even greater sense. The message of the gospel is an offensive one. The gospel tells us that we are sinners who deserve eternal punishment for our crimes against an eternal God. But God in His mercy and love has offered us a way to be saved and restored to life and relationship with Him. Will we humble ourselves, accept a bit of mud in our eyes, and wash in the cleansing water of calvary and be saved? We each must make this choice. God offers this to us, but He does not force it on us. The initiative lies with God, but in the same way the man had to have faith and obey Jesus to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, we must have faith in and obey God’s command to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. This might seem foolish to the world, but Jesus Christ is God incarnate who died for our sin and rose again. Eternal life is given only to those who trust Him.

When the man returned able to see, the neighbors who had seen him blind and begging everyday asked each other if this was the same man. Some said it was him, others said it was not but it looked like him, but the man kept saying, “I am the man.” He had undergone an incredible and miraculous transformation and the people found it difficult to believe their eyes so the man had to keep telling them it really was him at first.

After this back and forth they finally asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”, to which the man replied, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” Then the people asked where Jesus was, but the man did not know. The formerly blind man knew very little about Jesus. He had not been able to see yet during his encounter with Jesus so he did not even know what Jesus looked like, let alone where he was from or that He was the Messiah. All he knew was that a man called Jesus had healed him. So, as his neighbors questioned him, wanting to see the man who performed the miracle, he could tell them no more than Jesus’ name, and the plain facts of what had happened.

There is plenty to consider in regard to this passage but the primary and most obvious point of consideration is the fact that Jesus has the power to heal a person who was blind from birth. This man was born blind, and there had never been a record of a person born blind being healed, yet, Jesus miraculously healed this man. Only God could do this.

Secondly, while suffering in this world is broadly the result of sin, we cannot assign specific cases of suffering to specific personal sin. People in the ancient world, and people today, often want to ascribe the suffering of an individual to their personal sin. Individual suffering can be a result of individual sin, but by and large, it is simply the result of living in a fallen world, as opposed to retribution for specific sins committed by an individual. As the disciples asked Jesus about this in regard to the blind man, Jesus taught them and us that there is more going on than we understand. This man was not born blind because of his or his parent’s sin. He was born blind so that the glory of God might be revealed when Jesus healed him. From this we learn that there is more going on than we realize. We only see a tiny part of a much larger picture. God is good, and He is always working to bring good out of the myriad hurtful situations that exist in our fallen world.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

The miraculous healing Jesus performed for this man should cause us to think of Jesus as the eternally existent, all powerful God of all creation who formed humanity from the dust of ground, and used that same dust with a little spittle to restore a blind person’s sight. Only God could do such a thing.

Also, when we suffer, we must remember our suffering is not punishment for our sin. Jesus took 100% of the punishment for our sin on the cross. He does discipline us as a loving Father does His children, but He is not punishing us for sin. He is allowing and using the difficult circumstances in our lives to heal, sanctify and reveal His glory.

Self Reflection:

1. Have I fallen into the trap of thinking the suffering I experience is God punishing me? How does the fact that Jesus paid for all of my sin on the cross dispel this lie?

2. What does the miraculous healing Jesus performed tell me about His identity? Only God could do the things He did.
3. If this man was born blind so that the glorious works of God could be revealed in him, is it possible that the suffering I experience might have been allowed for the same reason?