John 9:1-12

¹As [Jesus] went along, He saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" ³"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." ⁶Having said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. ⁷"Go," He told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. ⁸His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" ⁹Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man." ¹⁰"How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded. ¹¹He replied, "The Man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see." ¹²"Where is this Man?" they asked him. "I don't know," he said.

This sign-miracle is the illustration of what Jesus had said at the Feast of Tabernacles, “I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12). In our tour of the tabernacle, we have seen the altar of sacrifice, the laver, or ceremonial washbasin, and the table of the Bread of Presence. Now turning around in the tabernacle, we see the Golden Lampstand, or candlestick. It would have been the only light in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:31-37). And just as Jesus has fulfilled the first three elements of the tabernacle imagery, so He also fulfills this one. Jesus is the Light, perfectly moral and holy, capable of resting in God’s presence. Jesus is also the light that enlightens every man to the truth. Jesus alone can bring the knowledge of God to men blinded by sin; otherwise, we would remain in utter darkness (see Ephesians 5:8; 1 Peter 2:9-10).

Of all the sign-miracles that Jesus performed, this is one of the most amazing and one of the surest indicators that He was indeed the Messiah. After all, giving sight to the blind was one of the works that was to characterize the coming Christ (Isaiah 35:4-5; 42:6-7). Moreover, although the prophets before Christ had performed many miraculous signs, and had even raised the dead (2 Kings 4), it had never before happened, in recorded history, that a man born blind had been given sight – which is the point of the healed man’s observation in v32. No physical sign could demonstrate the nature of the Messianic task quite as poignantly as giving sight to someone who had been born blind. Likewise, we were all born in the spiritual night of our sinfulness; only Jesus can open our eyes to see and rejoice in God’s glory.

This episode calls into question “theodicy,” which is how we humans justify God’s actions in our lives. Webster defines theodicy as “defense of God’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil.” The question asked is this: Why is this man blind? In other words, “Why did God make this man blind?” When we ask why God allows this or why God brings that to pass, we are talking about theodicy, which rightly recognizes the sovereignty of God over all things. The disciples, asking if this man sinned to cause his handicap, acknowledge the possibility of this man having sinned prior to his own birth. The disciples knew that man was sinful from conception, as David taught under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Psalm 51:5 and Psalm 58:3. Asking if the man’s parents sinned to cause his blindness, the disciples must have been thinking of Exodus 20:5 (punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation). But why wouldn’t they equally consider Ezekiel 18:20 (The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.)? Both can be true at different times…

In this case, God ordained history so that no man before Jesus had healed the blind; and also, that this particular man should be born blind and should encounter Christ as an adult. What is God’s purpose in this man’s blindness? God’s purpose is to provide a remarkable illustration of the Gospel itself. In other words, as Jesus explains, God made this man blind, in order to show forth His glory, in the person of Christ, at the appropriate time. This is a truth that the disciples did not initially understand. Like Job’s three comforters, they believed that any such trial could only be in response to a specific sin – either the man’s or his parents’. It is certainly true that death exists only because sin has entered the world; and it is also true that sickness can result from a specific sin, as was the case with King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:19) and many sexually transmitted diseases. But to trace all sicknesses and hardships to specific sins is not Scriptural. Rather God has ordained all things for His own glory.

Richard Dawkins, Darwin’s rottweiler, the evolutionist atheist of our day, in his books The Blind Watchmaker or The God Delusion, can offer an answer the question, “How did this man get blind?” He could give a scientific explanation as to the cause of this man’s blindness. But he can’t answer the question, “Why?” Science can’t answer the question. It can’t tell us about purpose here. It’s only Jesus that answers that question — and it’s a satisfying answer. Consider the amazing testimony of Joni Erickson Tada, that the book that made the most sense to her is Loraine Boettner’s The Refomed Doctrine of Predestination. Isn’t that surprising? That’s a tough book. Joni says that in the hour of her greatest agony, that is the book that comforted her the most. Do you know why? It’s very simple. Because it says that in the midst of my trouble there is a purpose. There is a divine purpose at work.

So Jesus explained these things to His disciples, and then, before He even performed the miracle, He explained why it was so significant that He do so. It is because He is the Light of the world, as He had already said at the Feast of Tabernacles, and so must work the Father’s works. The time when Jesus was in the world was the Messianic Day, that had finally arrived after centuries of spiritual night. And the night was to return, when those who experienced the light-giving Son of God, and personally encountered His words and works, saw Him no more and were swallowed back up in darkness. Of course, this is not true of Jesus’ true disciples, to whom Jesus would continue to give light throughout the age by His Holy Spirit – but for the Jews in general, this is exactly what would happen. And for us, when we seek the reason why we suffer, let us not accuse God as we may be tempted to do, for we know that He is being glorified whether by giving mercy or severity (as in the case of Job).

Jesus made a mud pie and rubbed it on the man’s eyes. Some say that Jesus did this to emphasize the point of the miracle, that are eyes are blinded by the “dirt” of our sin, until we come to Christ, who was sent by God to accomplish our redemption, and are cleansed by Him. Others think Jesus is re-enacting the creation account, when God formed man from the dust; and showing that He alone can accomplish the new creation of sinful men. Perhaps the simplest answer displays the communication Jesus was making with the blind man. Jesus rubs mud in his eyes to communicate that He is healing him. The blind man had never experienced sight, and it’s not likely that many people touched him. So Jesus communicates to him audibly with words and, more importantly, tactilely or tangibly by touch.

Then Jesus told the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam (perhaps to rebuke the Jews for rejecting Him, ala Isaiah 8:6). John translates for his audience that “Siloam” means “sent.” This was the place where the water was drawn for the Feast of Tabernacles, of which Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment, and exhorted the crowds to come to Him and drink (John 7:37). So Jesus is the One sent from God, and only Jesus can give sight to the blind. In fact, He had been called “Shiloh,” from the same Hebrew word, as far back as Genesis 49:10. This is the trial of true faith, when the devout mind is satisfied with the simple word of God, which promises what otherwise appears incredible. Faith is instantly followed by a readiness to obey, so that he who is convinced that God will be his faithful guide calmly yields himself to the direction of God. This miracle is so staggering, that people had a hard time believing that this man was actually the blind beggar they all knew – some thought it was a different man who just looked like him. But the beggar himself acknowledged that he was the same man, explaining that Jesus had healed him. He was excited to tell the story as a testimony to the grace he had received. Of course, they all wanted to see Jesus then, but the man did not know where He had gone.