Jesus healing the man born blind Photo: Lightstock
Jesus Healing A Man Born Blind
In John Chapter 9 we read the at times hilarious account of Jesus healing a man who was born blind. When he is brought to Jesus, the disciples ask "Who sinned? The man or his parents?" This was because blindness and other illnesses were often believed to be the result of sin.
Jesus replied: " Neither. This was so God's glory might be demonstrated " and by implication show that God is in control, not Satan!
After saying this, Jesus spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
Different Responses to Healing
The responses of the people who witnessed the healing are varied.
• Some recognize the man as the one who used to sit and beg for money
• Others think it was someone who looked like him
• Others say it is the man
• The man himself says it's him
When asked how he was healed, he says the man named Jesus made a mud poultice, put it on his eyes and told him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam, but he doesn't know where the man is now.
The Pharisees want to know what Jesus did because it was the Sabbath and he should not have been working! They also asked him how he had received his sight.
" He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”
The Pharisees continued. " This guy is obviously not from God because he healed on the Sabbath, which is against God's Law."
Others said: "How can a sinner perform such signs?"
"How could a man who was not a prophet do such signs?"
The man replied: " He is a prophet!"
The farcical situation worsens when the Pharisees insist on speaking to the man's parents.
" Is this man your son?" they ask. "The one they say was born blind? If so, how come he has been healed?"
“We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is old enough to be able to speak for himself.”
The Pharisees asked a second time what happened. The man answered:
" I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” It's hilarious!
When the Pharisees start hurling insults at the man accusing him of being one of Jesus' disciples, that God spoke to Moses but they haven't a clue where this guy Jesus is from, the man hits back:
" Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
The Pharisees are outraged and accuse the man of being a sinner since birth before throwing him out.
When Jesus hears what has happened, he asks the man: " Do you believe in the Son of Man? (code for The Messiah?)
The man replies: “ Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus says: " “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
The man fell on his knees and said: " “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him.
Why Jesus Came: A Blind Man Sees, Pharisees Are Blind
Jesus turned to the Pharisees, who claimed to see, and said:
“For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”