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Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he." Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight." Then they said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know."
They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them. They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."
- John 9:1-17
In last week's readings, we read John chapter 6, which taught us about Jesus as the Bread of Life. We began with the feeding in the wilderness of five thousand, and on to Jesus' discourse concerning the bread that will not perish. He taught them, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." When He was asked what work they should do to do the work of God, He told them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." He said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." He told the leadership, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." As He taught in the synagogue in Capernaum, He said, "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever." Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.. Jesus taught them, " It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe."
In today's reading, we go back to where the lectionary departed on Monday for chapter 6, and we pick up at the beginning of chapter 9 of John's Gospel. Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles, and chapters 7 and 8 are preparation for this chapter. We recall that He has had a long dialogue with the leadership after going to the Festival (the Feast of Tabernacles, or Succoth). We recall that He did not go "openly"; that is, as He will go at the beginning of Holy Week. Jesus has taught there that "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." In the last reading of chapter 8, He told the leadership, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear because you are not of God." They asked Him, "Who do You make Yourself out to be?" Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" My study bible points out that of all the miracle stories in the bible, this is the only one in which the person was blind from birth. It notes, "The blind man is symbolic of all humanity: all need illumination by Christ, the Light of the world. This sign is an illustration of baptism, which is also called 'holy illumination.' " We remember that Easter is the traditional day to receive catechumens into the Church. The question by the disciples reflects a common assumption in the ancient world.
Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." My study bible says that "though suffering can be the direct result of personal sin, this is certainly not always the case. In this instance, the man's blindness provided the occasion for the works of God to be revealed; it was not related directly the man's personal sins." Jesus has already taught (in chapter 8) "I am the light of the world." Here His compassion and healing illuminate more for us about that light!
When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. My study bible points out that this is the work of Creator: "St. Irenaeus sees in this mixture of clay and saliva a type of creation of humanity from the earth. Christ reveals His divinity by restoring part of creation using the same material with which He created humanity in the beginning." Regarding the pool of Siloam, it tells us: "The pool of Siloam was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, a considerable distance from the temple. From this pool water was taken for the rites connected with the Feast of Tabernacles. Siloam, translated, Sent, symbolizes Christ, the One sent by the Father. Just as the healing of the blind man confirmed Christ's claim to be the light of the world, so also, His making use of the pool of Siloam confirms that He is the true purification of the temple and those who worship in it." In the image of the clay healing the blind man, made with spittle from the mouth of Christ, we remember Jesus' words from chapter 6, in Saturday's reading: "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."
Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he." Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight." Then they said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know." The theme of illumination continues through these verses. The neighbors need to discover if it is even the same man! This is confirmed by the man himself. What has happened? The man gives testimony to what has happened to him, and what Jesus did. But he doesn't know where Jesus is. This passage can be considered a mirror to the whole of John's Gospel, as we are revealed to gradually, bit by bit, through testimony, the works of Jesus, and who He is. That the formerly blind man does not know where Jesus is reminds us of Jesus' words to Nicodemus in chapter 3, about the work of the Spirit (especially in the rebirth of Baptism): "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." The man doesn't know where Jesus went, but we see His healing effects.
They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them. They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." A note reads, "Just as the Pharisees had ignored the healing of the paralytic and focused only on the perceived violation of the Sabbath, here many of them cannot see the glory of god through their own prejudices."
We see the gradual "opening of the eyes" happening here in many respects. There is first of all the blind man himself. He becomes the object of curiosity first of the disciples: "Who sinned, that this man is blind?" But Jesus teaches that his affliction is an opportunity for the revelation of the glory of God. It is time for Jesus to work, while it is day, as He walks in the world. Many Church Fathers comment that the "night" is the time of the age to come, when no one can "work." But I think we can also think of this saying of Jesus giving us an allusion to the "night" to come, in His Crucifixion. The Gospels work to "illuminate" on many levels at once. At any rate, He is the light who brings the day, and who reveals the light of God in the world. How is the blind man healed? By following the words of Christ, who tells him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. We can imagine this man with clay on his eyes, making his way to the pool. Walking back, people wonder who he is -- if he can be the same person. Therefore John's Gospel gives us the testimony and curiosity of witnesses to the blind man's change. We are gradually illumined in the light of the Gospel. The formerly blind man makes his own testimony, sticking strictly to the facts, what he knows. This is an important mark of truth, or truthfulness, also linked to the light of Christ, whom we call the Person who is Truth. And he also answers truthfully an important answer to the question about where Christ is: "I do not know." And then we compare this to the blindness of the Pharisees, who can only concur that whoever healed the blind man cannot be of God, because it happened on the Sabbath. They are blind to the glory of God in the healing, and the fact that the Sabbath is the Lord's day. But they are divided, as some (perhaps weakly) ask, "How can a man who is a sinner do such things?" The blind man again answers truthfully to his own understanding of whoever it is who must have opened his eyes: "He is a prophet." That is what he knows, so far. Later Christ Himself will reveal more. And this is the way our faith works. We go forward, following the word of Christ, His light to us. And as we move forward, we may not have all the answers. We may have to say, with truth in its grace, that there are things we "don't know." But above all the light of Christ is the light of truth, what we do know. It cannot shine through our deliberate ignorance and denial, which is another form of a lie. It must be given to those who are pure in heart, who can accept it. And more truth comes from Him who will reveal more about Himself so that we can know. This is the way that we proceed as believers into the light that shines in the darkness and has come into the world. John's Gospel will continue to illuminate as we proceed toward the great light of Easter. Let us remember the formerly blind man and his truth, which sometimes consists of "I don't know." But we wait for the word of God.
