ONE BORN BLIND IS GIVEN SIGHT

John 9:1-9 And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world. When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.

Since they lived in the nearby village of Bethany, Jesus was, more than likely, still depending on the hospitality of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary for lodging during His stay in Jerusalem. It is evident that He spent the daytime hours in the city teaching the gospel of repentance and salvation at every opportunity He had to do so. And also, the truth of His teaching continued to be firmly established as coming directly from God by the infallible miracles that He compassionately performed on the sick and afflicted. The lesson text tells us of one of these miracles, and begins with this statement recorded by the apostle John: And as Jesus passed by, after having left the Jewish temple, ...He saw a man which was blind from his birth. Jesus had just left the Jewish temple (John 8:59). As a matter of reference, we find another blind man that was healed by Jesus that took place in Bethsaida, of Galilee (See Mark 8:22-26). However this man seems not to have been born blind because images came back to him that seemingly he had previously seen and remembered. .

In this study, Jesus came upon a man that had seen neither images nor the light of day from the day he was born. Immediately Jesus' disciples questioned Him as to the cause of the man's sightlessness. Although there were incidents where age was the reason for blindness, such as Isaac in his old age (Gen. 27:1), but on many other occasions blindness was God's punishment for the disobedience and the commitment of sin (Gen. 19:9-11;Deut. 28:28-29; 2 Kings 6:18-19). No doubt His disciples were aware of these events, and thought sin had led to this man's sight disability. This led them to ask Jesus, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? In this instance, since the man had been blind from birth, the disciples could not possibly attribute his malady to his own sin, unless they could justify the idea that he could have sinned before birth. What seems to be a more reasonable question was whether his blindness could have resulted from the sins of his parents.

Jesus' answer assured them that neither he, nor his parents, was the cause of the man's sightlessness, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. It must not be inferred that God caused the man's blindness in order to heal him. The man's blindness was a natural occurrence as was the reason for most such maladies. However, the fact that he was blind, God chose to use his miraculous healing as undeniable proof that Jesus was the Son of God and had received His power to do so directly from His omnipotence. Jesus added that I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. The miraculous "works" that Jesus performed on earth, not only demonstrated beneficence, but also mercy and compassion. However the greatest benefit to mankind was to give irrefutable proof to God's gospel of salvation that Jesus ultimately established by His teaching and in His atoning death on the cross of Calvary. This miracle was one of many that demonstrated His deity and the spiritual purpose of Jesus' earthly sojourn. This He did for as long as (He was) ...in the world. Indeed, He was the Light of the world. This miracle demonstrated to all present on that occasion, as well as to all that are privileged to learn of it from this inspired text, that Jesus was the Light that opened the physical eyes of this blind man, as well as the Light that opened the spiritual eyes of the souls of men and women throughout all ages of of the world.

When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. Studying each miracle of Christ, one can readily understand that each required an element of faith, either on the part of the beneficiary of the miracle, or that of a relative, friend, or an observer of the miracle that took place. Here, Jesus did not simply bid the man's eyes to be opened, but he was required to demonstrate his faith in the power of Jesus by doing that which he was bidden to do. After anointing the eyes of the blind man, Jesus told him to wash away the clay from his eyes with the waters found in the pool of Siloam. Having the faith to obediently do so, the man, when he returned, came seeing.

Some that were present on that day and witnessed the miracle recognized the man as the blind man that sat and begged, more than likely at one of the gates to the city - the usual place for seeking alms. This fact eliminates all possible accusations that the miracle was merely a ruse - a deceptive trick to deceive those that observed the miraculous healing of this man. Although some claimed the man to possibly be someone that only looked like him, the man gave his own testimony to the entire multitude when he assured them that I am he.