Joh 9:3-15 | KingComments | STEP | John focuses our attention on another event in the Lord’s life: the healing of a man born blind. This history is an illustration of what the Lord said in John 8 about the light. In the healing of a man born blind we see how he comes to the light, both physically and spiritually. The Lord opens his physical eyes and the eyes of his heart. That testimony is rejected. The Jews reject the man born blind because they reject the Lord Jesus. We read that the Lord passes by and then sees a man who is blind from birth. In a spiritual sense that is the condition of every human being and therefore we can make a broad application of this history. The Lord follows the way the Father wants Him to go. At the same time that is the path in which all initiative comes from Him. No human being has any influence on that. On that pathway He sees this man who is blind from birth and whom He wants to turn into one of His sheep. That subject is discussed extensively in John 10, which as far as its content is concerned is directly linked to John 9. Here we see how everything originates from the Lord. There is no call for help from the blind man. The Lord acts out of pure grace. The disciples also see the man, probably because the Lord draws their attention to him and tells them that this man is born blind. They respond with a question about the cause of his blindness. Their question demonstrates how Jewish they still think. They know from the law that God visits the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation ( ). Their question also reveals how little they are aware of Him Who is present in grace. The disciples start from the idea of a direct government of God, in which God immediately punishes evil and rewards good. But the time of a direct government with such an intervention of God has not yet come. We find this wrong way of concluding among the friends of Job as well. They see the misery that has come over Job and conclude that he must have sinned very badly, for otherwise God would not punish him so severely. The Lord’s answer makes it clear that there is a form of suffering that does not mean punishment or retribution, but serves a higher purpose, namely, to display the works of God (cf. ). In order to display the works of God, the Son was sent by the Father. These works must be done as long as it is day, that is, as long as He is on earth. As long as He is on earth, the light shines on earth. Once night has come, that is, when He has been rejected, those works will no longer be possible. No one can take over that work that He does. There will be great works of faith, but no longer in the power and perfection that characterize His works. Since His rejection, it is night in the world ( ). The believers are not of the night ( ). Yet they are in the night of the world, but they belong to the day ( ). As long as He is on earth, it is day because He is the light of the world. The darkness is not yet total. We are also lights in the world ( ), but we are not the sun, and our shining is a shining in the night. He works while it is day.

‏ John 9:3-15

The Lord Sees a Man Blind From Birth

John focuses our attention on another event in the Lord’s life: the healing of a man born blind. This history is an illustration of what the Lord said in John 8 about the light. In the healing of a man born blind we see how he comes to the light, both physically and spiritually. The Lord opens his physical eyes and the eyes of his heart. That testimony is rejected. The Jews reject the man born blind because they reject the Lord Jesus.

We read that the Lord passes by and then sees a man who is blind from birth. In a spiritual sense that is the condition of every human being and therefore we can make a broad application of this history. The Lord follows the way the Father wants Him to go. At the same time that is the path in which all initiative comes from Him. No human being has any influence on that. On that pathway He sees this man who is blind from birth and whom He wants to turn into one of His sheep. That subject is discussed extensively in John 10, which as far as its content is concerned is directly linked to John 9.

Here we see how everything originates from the Lord. There is no call for help from the blind man. The Lord acts out of pure grace. The disciples also see the man, probably because the Lord draws their attention to him and tells them that this man is born blind. They respond with a question about the cause of his blindness. Their question demonstrates how Jewish they still think.

They know from the law that God visits the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation (Exo 20:5). Their question also reveals how little they are aware of Him Who is present in grace. The disciples start from the idea of a direct government of God, in which God immediately punishes evil and rewards good. But the time of a direct government with such an intervention of God has not yet come. We find this wrong way of concluding among the friends of Job as well. They see the misery that has come over Job and conclude that he must have sinned very badly, for otherwise God would not punish him so severely.

The Lord’s answer makes it clear that there is a form of suffering that does not mean punishment or retribution, but serves a higher purpose, namely, to display the works of God (cf. Jn 11:4). In order to display the works of God, the Son was sent by the Father. These works must be done as long as it is day, that is, as long as He is on earth. As long as He is on earth, the light shines on earth. Once night has come, that is, when He has been rejected, those works will no longer be possible.

No one can take over that work that He does. There will be great works of faith, but no longer in the power and perfection that characterize His works. Since His rejection, it is night in the world (Rom 13:12). The believers are not of the night (1Thes 5:5). Yet they are in the night of the world, but they belong to the day (1Thes 5:8). As long as He is on earth, it is day because He is the light of the world. The darkness is not yet total. We are also lights in the world (Phil 2:15), but we are not the sun, and our shining is a shining in the night. He works while it is day.

Healing the Man Blind From Birth

After the Lord showed the principles of day and night, He sets to work to heal the blind man. He spits on the ground, makes clay of the spittle and applies it the eyes of the blind man. The clay, which is earth mixed with His spittle, is a picture of God’s Son Who has become Man (earth), but Who is at the same time internally, in essence, the almighty God (spittle). Spittle reminds us of defamation and humiliation, but this is the spittle of the living Lord. It gives the earth living power.

By applying the clay to the eyes of the blind man it seems as if his blindness only gets worse. The question is how we look at Him. Those who do so in unbelief cannot possibly assume that this Man is the Son of God. However, when God’s Spirit acts on someone through the Word, the eyes are opened and the truth of His Person becomes public and recognized.

The Lord then sends the blind man to the pool of Siloam. John gives the translation of the name Siloam. Siloam means ‘sent’. There is a reason for that. It shows that the man has to do more than just go to a literal pool. He also has to believe in Him Who is the Sent One. Although the man has never seen the Lord Jesus, he obeys the voice that speaks to him. That voice must have touched him in the heart and given him the confidence that here Someone speaks Who can truly heal him. That is why he goes to the pool and washes.

The result is immediate because he comes back seeing. If we apply it spiritually, we see that with the cleansing water of the Word of God, he washes his blind eyes and becomes seeing. Together with his natural eyes, his spiritual eyes also are opened. Then the inner light, his insight into Him Who is the Son of God, increases rapidly. Like the healing of the lame in John 5, this healing also takes place entirely outside the religious elite of the established customary religion.

The Testimony to the Neighbors

In the part of Jn 9:8-34 we don’t hear anything more about the Lord Jesus. This means that He is no longer directly, personally involved. It is however all about Him. Although He is not physically present, He is present in the work He has done. That work becomes the touchstone for everyone who comes into contact with it. His work cannot be denied. It requires consent. Whoever does not want that, must consciously deny that work.

The work the Lord has done on the born blind man becomes the subject of conversation and heated discussion and finally leads to the putting out of the born blind man. In his putting out we see how the works of the Lord Jesus are rejected by the religious leaders, as was already shown in John 8 when they rejected His words.

The healing of the born blind man cannot remain hidden. For those who know him, the healing is clearly perceptible. The first to notice the change are the neighbors. They cannot hide their amazement. He used to be a beggar, that is, until the moment of his healing. That is how they knew him. Now he walks freely. He no longer has to hold up his hand for alms. Others who apparently did not know him that well, see a resemblance, but nothing more. They probably passed by him many times, but never really paid attention to him.

The fact that the eyes of the blind man have been opened has given him a different appearance. Eyes that lack light are dull and dead. When the light enters, it changes someone completely. The blind person has changed from a needy person, who cannot go his own way without help, into a person who knows where he is going, taking firm steps. But no matter what people say, the fact of healing is undeniable. God has ensured that there are many witnesses. Finally, the man himself speaks and says it is really him. It is the small beginning of a growing and deepening testimony that the man gives of the Lord Jesus. Growing takes place against oppression and resistance.

Then people want to know how his eyes are opened. This must have happened in a wondrous way because there is no human explanation to give. The man gives a simple and clear testimony. He mentions exactly what “the man who is called Jesus” did to him and told him. Did he have to do something difficult? Not at all. “So” – a word that indicates that it is quite simple, but also very logical – he simply did what the Lord said. And here is the result: he can see again. At this moment, the Lord Jesus is no more than “the man who is called Jesus”, but we see him grow in his knowledge of Him in the course of this chapter.

While the opponents try to discredit Christ, their slander causes the man to grow in his testimony of the Lord. This is the evidence of new life. People want to know Who He is Who opened his eyes. He gives an honest answer to that question. He knows what has happened to him and he testifies to that, but where the Benefactor is now, he does not know.

The Lord has withdrawn and left the man to his own deliberations and his surroundings to prepare him for what is to come, allowing the man to get to know Him better. The process the man has to go through, is a process which will detach him from the religious system which leaves people blind to the glory of the Son of God.

The Pharisees Question the Man

Because people don’t trust the matter, they take the man to the Pharisees. They are the religious leaders. If there is anything that reminds one of a supernatural intervention, they must be able to judge from which source that phenomenon originates.

John prepares us for the reaction of the Pharisees by mentioning that it was a Sabbath on the day that the Lord made the clay and opened the eyes of the born blind man. At the request of the Pharisees, the man again gives a simple testimony of what the Lord has done to him. It is all quite common. The wonder is great, but the actions are visible. The Lord did not perform any special acts, nor did he ask the man to perform spectacular acts. The Pharisees do not even listen to the man. They immediately and without excuse judge that “this man” is not from God. The standard of their assessment is also simple: He does not keep the Sabbath.

Men of law judge others or their work only on the basis of established rules. That is easy to handle, you can stop thinking about it. Men of law are recognizable by applying rules to others, without keeping them themselves (Mt 23:4). They shut themselves off from the grace of God that transcends the rules.

There are also Pharisees who do not go that far in their judgment. They use their common sense and notice that a sinful person cannot perform such signs. They see a sign in the healing of the born blind man. And that is what it is. Opinions about the Lord Jesus are divided, as is the case today with people who have an opinion about Him, but refuse to bow down before Him as the Son of God.

God uses their rebellion against God to make the man testify more and more clearly about Who the Lord is. They turn once again to the healed blind man and ask for his opinion about Christ. After all, his eyes are opened, so he is best able to say Who He is Who did this.

Some of the Pharisees have said of the Lord that He is “not from God” (Jn 9:16). The man confesses exactly the opposite and testifies of Him that He is a Prophet, that is, Someone Who actually is from God. After acknowledging His power in opening his eyes, the man now confesses that the Lord Jesus knows the thoughts of God. Through their enmity he will grow even further in the knowledge of the Lord.