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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 yesterday's reading, we were at the end of chapter 6. Jesus had fed a multitude in the wilderness, and they wanted to make Him king. He eluded them and went across the Sea of Galilee with the disciples (after walking to them on the water). But the crowds followed, and He has taught them about the Bread of Life in the synagogue at Capernaum. He has also taught, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him." 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.
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. In this chapter, we read about a man who was healed of his blindness, and who had been blind since birth. It is the sixth sign in John's Gospel. My study bible says that of all the miracle stories in the Bible, this is the only one in which the person was blind from birth. It says, "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.' " At this point in the Gospel, Jesus is in Jerusalem. He attends the Feast of Tabernacles, an autumn festival commemorating the Exodus of Israel, a time of living in tents or tabernacles. He has just taught to the leadership, "Before Abraham was, I AM." They took up stones to throw at Him, but He hid and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and 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." My study bible suggests here that Jesus openly rejects an assumption common in the ancient world, that all troubles and maladies are necessarily the consequence of personal sin or the sins of parents (see Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9; contrast Ezekiel 18:19-21). It says, "Though suffering can be the direct result of personal sin, this is certainly not always the case." Here, this man's blindness is an occasion for the glory of God: the works of God are revealed in him. It is not related directly to personal sin.
"I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work." My study bible says that the work that people do consists of faith (6:29), good deeds (5:29), and repentance (12:40). The night that comes is both the time after someone's death and the age to come, when there is no longer an opportunity to express faith. It says, "On that day there will not be faith, but all will submit, whether willingly or unwillingly" (John Chrysostom).
"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." My study bible says, "The unprecedented healing of the man born blind confirms Christ's claim that He is 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. My study bible tells us that St. Irenaeus sees in this mixture of clay and saliva a type of creation of humanity from the earth (Genesis 2:7). It says, "Christ reveals His divinity by restoring part of creation using the same material with which He 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. This pool, Siloam, was on the outskirts of Jerusalem and a considerable distance from the temple. This pool provided water for rites connected with the Feast of Tabernacles, which, among other things, commemorated the time that water flowed from the rock for Moses. Siloam, translated, Sent, symbolizes Christ, the One sent by the Father (5:36, 20:21). My study bible says, "Just as the healing of the blind man confirmed Christ's claim to be the light of the world (8:12), 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."
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." Here is a clear story of witnessing. We can't necessarily explain faith, or how it is has worked in us, and produced the fruits of the Spirit. We don't know necessarily why something has happened. And we don't know all the mystery of God and God's work. But we do know what has happened, what we have experienced, and that is what we witness to. This question, "Where is He?" reminds me once again of Jesus' teaching about the Spirit to Nicodemus: "The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).
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 says that "just as the Pharisees had ignored the healing of the paralytic and focused only on the perceived violation of the Sabbath (5:10-16), here many of them cannot see the glory of God through their own prejudices."
Healing is an important subject to think about. How it is so central to Christ's ministry and mission is incomparably expressed in today's reading. Giving us sight is true healing, and the pool named Siloam gives us Sent, the One who is sent, and His entire purpose in having been sent into the world. It is to heal, on every level, and this is the true meaning of salvation. To be saved is to be healed, made whole. The Church isn't supposed to be so much institution as hospital, a place of healing, in all ways, and all that the best in that word suggests. Christ is the Healer, the ultimate healer, and what He does is to take on all of our weakness and illness and to show us the way to health. There are several points in today's reading to think about in this context. There is first of all the occasion of blindness, and blindness since birth. As mentioned by my study bible, and implied in the questions of the disciples, the ancient and contemporary belief in Jesus' time was that an illness or affliction such as blindness (especially from birth) was due to some form of personal sin. But Jesus dispels this and God's grace really stands this belief on its head here: this is not just a sign of sin or even affliction, it is rather an occasion for the glory of God to show through this man. In that sense, this blind man is somehow chosen. This is grace in action. It reminds us very much of something St. Paul will say about his own experience with illness, and something which I like to quote and think of often. St. Paul teaches (in 2 Corinthians 12) that he was given a "thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan" -- some affliction which tormented him -- in order to keep himself from being too conceited. He prayed three times for this to be taken away from him. But the answer he was given was a kind of revelation of grace, and how it changes the way we see ourselves and our lives: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." St. Paul writes, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." And so we can see a hint of similarity in the ways that grace works in today's reading: an affliction becomes an occasion for the grace of God. And we can view our own lives this way. We may not have the spectacular direct healing this man has. After all, it is the sixth sign in John's Gospel, and is proclaimed everywhere that we are taught about Jesus' saving mission into the world, and His ministry. But just as St. Paul was given an illumination about his own "weakness," the "thorn in his flesh" or "messenger of Satan," so grace can work in each of our lives and our perceived imperfections. Every "weakness" is an occasion for the grace of God, as is each affliction. We may struggle with problems great and small, but Jesus' saving mission guarantees us that none is without the possibility of saving grace, an element when added that gives meaning and value to whatever is in our lives, no matter how we may view it ourselves, or how "the world" would see it. We may all have heard the expression, "If life gives you a lemon, make lemonade." Well, it's grace that teaches us what to do with the lemons of life. As evidenced from both John's Gospel and St. Paul's Epistle, saving or healing grace works with our weaknesses, our imperfections, and afflictions, and gives us something different, a lemonade. In today's examples (the man blind from birth and St. Paul with the "thorn in his flesh"), one man is healed completely of his blindness, but another is illumined through the understanding of the work of grace. But that's what grace does: it gives added depth and meaning, and it confers relationship. It changes the ways in which we see things and know things. It gives us more information about ourselves, our lives, our relationship to God, and to the world. And to all things is added this grace. So let us consider what it means to be healed, and to be saved. It is this one thing necessary that changes all things and how we relate to the cosmos. An affliction may be a blessing in disguise, with so much more to give us than we know. Sometimes, it's the affliction that is the very thing that turns us to God, and helps us to receive the true pearl of great price.
