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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 chapters 7 and 8, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, an autumn feast commemorating the time Israel lived in tabernacles (or tents), sometimes also called booths. Throughout this time Jesus has taught about Himself as the light of the world, and the One via whom "rivers of living water" may flow from believers' hearts. Both images of light and water reflect elements of the Feast, commemorating the pillar of fire that led Israel in the darkness, and the water from the rock struck by Moses. For the earlier readings concerning events at this festival, see readings from Friday, February 7 through Saturday, February 15. On Saturday, we read that Jesus was continuing in dialogue and confrontation with the leadership of the temple, particularly the Pharisees, who have unsuccessfully sought to have Him arrested during the feast. Jesus told them, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. 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?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him." It's important to note about events of today's and tomorrow's readings that, as my study bible says, "of all the miracle stories in the Bible, this is the only one in which the person was blind from birth." It adds, "This man is symbolic of all humanity: all need illumination by Christ, the Light of the world. This passage is also a picture of baptism, which is also called 'holy illumination.' This healing is the sixth sign of Jesus in John's Gospel. In the ancient Church this passage, along with chs. 3 and 5, was read on the Saturday night of Easter, when Christian catechumens were baptized. It reiterates the paschal themes of washing, illumination, healing, faith, conversion, and salvation." Here, also, in verse 3, we note Jesus' rejection of the assumption of sin. My study bible puts it well: "The Savior rejects the assumption (common in the ancient world) that trouble and malady are necessarily a consequence of personal sin (see Ex. 20:5; Ezek. 18:20). Rather, this man's blindness provides the occasion for God's mighty works to be revealed. However, it is true that suffering and death entered the world as a result of sin (Romans 5:12), and some sinful acts bring about sickness and death (1 Cor. 11:30). There would be no sickness in the world if there were no sin, but by no means is all sickness the result of a specific person's sin."
"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 tells us: "Jesus speaks of the urgency of bringing light into the darkened world, for the duration of His time upon the earth is limited."
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. St. Irenaeus saw in the mixture of dust and spittle a type of the creation of humanity from the earth (Genesis 2:7). My study bible claims, "Jesus reveals His deity by restoring part of creation in the same way He had created humanity in the beginning."
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. A note tells us that "the pool of Siloam (Gr. for Shiloah) was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, a considerable distance from the temple. What a spectacle was this man, blind and eyes covered with mud, making his way across the city, from the temple to the pool, in faithful expectation of Christ's promised healing! It was from this pool that water was taken for the rites connected with the Feast of Tabernacles. . . . Siloam, translated, Sent, symbolizes Christ, the One sent by the Father."
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?" My study bible says, "That the Lord opened the eyes of the blind man recalls Isaiah 35:5, with its messianic significance. As the story progresses (vv. 14-41), the once-blind man gradually comes to an awareness of who Jesus is, while the Pharisees lapse into deeper darkness."
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." My study bible teaches, "The Jewish authorities try to discredit the miracle by discrediting Jesus. They claim that because He works on the Sabbath, contrary to their law, He cannot be from God."
One might truly say that questioning a man's intentions because He restored sight to a person blind since birth on the Sabbath was a little like straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! There are so many symbols for us to think about in today's reading. Jesus' making clay from His own spittle and the dirt of the ground, an image of life given to creation (via the Word, spoken into life by God) gives us meaning upon meaning, suggesting also the restoration of each of us via spiritual rebirth, salvation, the new person. That the man's eyes have been opened into illumination gives us a sense of just what it is to become "a new man" and to be reborn through the work of Christ, that which is done here on the Sabbath. To be reborn, in that sense, is to come to one's senses, to use another metaphor here for restoring sight -- to truly see. There's also a contrast between the old, limited sense of the Law and the particular ways that God works with man, and the new revelation here, the one that is tied with a pool called Sent (in the translation of the Hebrew). The old is working rule by rule and step by step, with many specific requirements in each individual case, but here in the new is the impact of overwhelming abundance and impact of life -- to its fullest, in a kind of rebirth where there is nothing held back. That the miracle itself is stupendous by the standards of Scripture (the only case of a person whose sight is restored who has been blind since birth), tells us of an overarching, entirely transcendent reality being revealed here. This sixth sign particularly reveals the overwhelming, way-beyond-the-boundaries-of-the-box kind of impact that Jesus is bringing into the world. There are "no holds barred" here, so to speak. Whatever we thought we knew, God has just gone far, far beyond our notion of how God interacts with the world. Revelation, here, is beyond the concepts that already exist. Hence, straining at gnats and swallowing camels -- or to be more specific, worrying about violating the laws of the Sabbath rest when a man, blind from birth, has just had his sight restored to him. And that's the impact Christ makes. God's extraordinary love will always take us way beyond what we think we know, what we think we deserve, or have earned, or belong to. This is the great challenge of faith. In that place of an overwhelming, unearned, totally potent and endless love, we find ourselves standing in a place we can't justify and can't really fathom. We just find a love that teaches us how to love, a thing that does good in and of itself, and that pushes us along like little toddlers on a road to help us to see. That's the place of God's love, and that is the place that Christ brings us. In tomorrow's reading, we will see how the rest of the story of this healing unfolds, including how the formerly blind man's own parents react. Let us once again take note of the divisions given us in the Gospel: there are some in the leadership who disagree with the challenge posed here by some of the Pharisees. Others of them ask a great question, and a most pertinent one to the real point of having their eyes opened: "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" Let us remember that each one of us is on that road of stumbling in the darkness, seeking after our own illumination, led in baby steps by the One who reveals everything. The startling love of God may send each of us scattering for the smaller things we think we know, overwhelmed into a preference for our blindness. But He calls us to see.
