Healing of the Man Born Blind

Text and Content

This miracle is recorded in the Gospel of John 9:1–41. As Jesus passes by, he sees a man who has been blind from birth. His disciples ask whose sin caused the man to be born blind. Jesus answers that it was neither the man's own sin nor that of his parents, "but that the works of God should be made manifest in him" (John 9:3). He then calls himself "the light of the world" (John 9:5). Jesus spits on the ground, makes clay, anoints the man's eyes with it, and tells him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. The man washes and comes back seeing.

Most of the narrative concerns the interrogation that follows. The day was the Sabbath. The Pharisees summon the healed man and his parents and question them closely. The parents, fearing that they will be put out of the synagogue, avoid answering (John 9:22). The man testifies, "one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25), and is cast out. Jesus seeks him out and asks whether he believes in the Son of Man; the man confesses his faith and worships him. The chapter closes with Jesus' saying "that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind" and his exchange with the Pharisees (John 9:39–41).

Background

John explains that the name Siloam means "Sent" (John 9:7). In 2004 the remains of a Second Temple–period pool were excavated in the southern part of Jerusalem, and the identification of this site as the Pool of Siloam has become widely known. There is, however, some disagreement about whether the location can be established definitively.

In later rabbinic literature, making clay is classed as "kneading," one of the kinds of work forbidden on the Sabbath. This is often cited to explain why the incident escalated into a dispute over the Sabbath. Scholars differ on whether expulsion from the synagogue (removal from the synagogue community) reflects the situation in Jesus' own day or the circumstances of the late first century, when the Gospel of John was written.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

This event is commonly counted among the seven signs in the Gospel of John. It is read as an enactment of the immediately preceding "I am" saying, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). The Old Testament foretold the opening of the eyes of the blind as a sign of the restoration God would accomplish (Isaiah 35:5), and the New Testament connects Jesus' ministry with this prophecy (Luke 7:22).

The healed man first calls Jesus "a man" (9:11), then "a prophet" (9:17), then one who is "of God" (9:33), and finally believes and worships him. This progression is read as a portrait of growing faith. Conversely, the Pharisees, who claim to see, grow progressively blinder, and this is read as a warning against spiritual blindness.

Interpretations and Issues

• Suffering and sin: The disciples' question reflects the belief that illness was a punishment for the sins of the sufferer or of his ancestors. Jesus' answer is frequently cited to rebut the assumption that suffering is automatically the result of sin. The passage is also used in critiques of generational curse theology, the teaching that the sins of ancestors are passed down to their descendants as a curse. Readings of 9:3, however, fall into two camps. Those who emphasize God's providence take it to mean that the man's condition lay within God's purpose. Others read it not as an explanation of the cause of the suffering but as a statement that turns attention to what God is about to do.
• Clay and washing: Church Fathers such as Irenaeus are known to have connected this scene with the creation account in which man was formed from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). The early church associated the washing in water and the opening of the eyes with baptism, which it also called "illumination." Churches that follow the liturgical year, such as the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, have a tradition of reading this passage during Lent. Protestant preaching generally emphasizes faith that obeys the word and bold testimony.
• Distinction from other healings of the blind: The man is not named in the text. This is a different event from the healing of Bartimaeus near Jericho (Mark 10:46–52) and from the two-stage healing of the blind man at Bethsaida (Mark 8:22–26).

In the Korean Church

The line "was blind, but now I see" in the original English lyrics of the hymn "Amazing Grace" is widely regarded as an echo of John 9:25. In Korean churches, the confession of 9:25 is often cited in sermons as a model of testimony. The name "Siloam" is commonly used for Korean churches and Christian institutions, and a Korean gospel song of the same title is also widely sung.