The Blind Man of John 9

The significance of the story of the blind man, told in John 9, is something that biblical experts have debated about for years. Though it is clear that John carefully structured the story in the way that he did in order to make a point, many people disagree on what exactly his point was. It is important to study the passage in order to learn about Jesus' role in the chapter and the steps in the blind man's faith. After examining the narrative, it becomes clear that the story revolves around the blind man's faith. When Jesus heals the blind man, the blind man is transformed both physically and spiritually. He no longer identifies himself as a sinner, and his newfound faith in Jesus is so strong that he is willing to lose everything for him.

Though Jesus is not the main character of chapter nine, it is important to study his role in the narrative because he is the cause of the blind man's spiritual and physical transformations. The story starts in John 9:1 by saying that "as [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth." When Jesus' disciples ask if it was the man or his parents who sinned, Jesus informs them that the man was not disabled because he or his parents sinned, but so that Jesus could show God's glory through him. Jesus reminds his disciples that he is the light of the world; he was sent by God to do his work, to reveal God's power and authority through signs and give life to those who believe in him. [1] After saying that he is the light of the world, Jesus spits on the ground in order to make mud and smears the mixture on the blind man's eyes. While Jesus' actions often seem peculiar to modern readers, Jesus had good reasons for making mud out of saliva. First of all, Jews in his day believed that saliva had curative properties; doctors often used saliva to help wounds heal. [2] Jesus also uses his saliva in order to make a statement about Jewish culture. Despite the fact that Jews believed that saliva had healing powers, the religious leaders believed that saliva was impure. [3] By using saliva to heal the man, Jesus links himself with the general population and simultaneously opposes the religious authorities. Unlike saliva, however, mud was not something that was usually used in the curative process. James Alison and many other biblical experts believe that Jesus uses mud as a symbol that he is finishing the act of creation. The Hebrew word for "mud" is very similar to the Hebrew word "adam," which translates as "human" or "man." [4] This fact helps the reader understand that just as God formed Adam out of dust, Jesus uses saliva mixed with dust in order to rid the blind man of his blindness. [5]

Last of all, it is important for readers to remember that the Jews believed that those who were born with a disability came into the world before God had finished creating them. [6] These points make Jesus' message clear; by completing the blind man's creation, he is doing the Father's work and implying that he is God himself. While the symbolism of the mud shows Jesus' divinity, Jesus uses his saliva to make the mud in order to remind his audience that he is a member of Jewish culture, a human. After applying the mud, Jesus tells the blind man to wash in the pool of Siloam. The pool of Siloam was often used for purification rites; by telling the man to wash there, Jesus is again involving himself in Jewish culture. [7] After telling the man what to do, Jesus passes out of the story and does not appear again until verse 35, after the man is driven out of the temple. Jesus hears that the formerly blind man has been cast out, and when Jesus finds him he bluntly asks the formerly blind man if he believes in the Son of Man. The way that Jesus questions the man is markedly different from the way that the Pharisees spoke to the man. The Pharisees viewed the man with scorn; they saw him as a sinner, someone who God had not finished creating. Consequently, they believed that he was hardly even human and that he was incapable of understanding theological matters.

Jesus, however, does see the man as fully human, and trusts in the man's ability to make his own theological decisions. [8] When Jesus asks if the man believes, the man responds by asking Jesus who the Son of Man is so that he can believe in him. Jesus' response is so simple that some readers may not realize the magnitude of what he is saying: Jesus reveals himself to be the Son of Man, or a holy messenger sent from God. The man believes what Jesus says, and worships him. Jesus then states in verse 39 that he "came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." The Pharisees do not understand his statement, insisting that they are not blind. Their objection prompts Jesus to bluntly tell them that if they really were spiritually blind, their actions would not be sinful because they would not be capable of understanding that what they were doing was wrong. However, because they do have spiritual understanding and they still do wrong, they have sinned. [9]

Though the Pharisees are spiritually blind, the blind man is not, and as the story progresses he becomes more and more aware of the true identity of Jesus. At the beginning of the story, the man does not do or say anything. He is merely a flat character used as an opportunity for the disciples to ask a question and for Jesus to teach a lesson. As soon as Jesus speaks to him, however, the blind man does as Jesus tells him. His unquestioning obedience is rewarded by the immediate cure of his blindness. His prompt obedience is remarkable, considering that he knows very little about Jesus; just how little he knows is made clear when he refers to Jesus as "the man called Jesus" in verse 11. Clearly he expects his neighbors to know who Jesus is, but he does not yet understand that Jesus is more than a normal person. [10] He does, however, recognize that it was Jesus who healed him. The man's amazed neighbors take him to the Pharisees, who ask him how he received his sight. The man's response is often passed over without more than a cursory glance, but J.L. Staley reveals that the man's response is a fascinating insight into his character. [11] Unlike the lame man of John 5, who baldly stated that Jesus was the one who healed him, the formerly blind man seeks to protect Jesus from the persecution of the Pharisees. The man tells the Pharisees, "he put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see" in John 9:15. The man does not mention Jesus by name because he is aware of the Pharisees' attitude towards Jesus. He also very carefully does not say that Jesus made mud or that Jesus anointed him with it; both actions would have broken the laws of the Sabbath.

Unfortunately, it seems that the neighbors already informed the Pharisees that Jesus was the man's healer, because the Pharisees immediately start to discuss Jesus amongst themselves. They are unable to decide if Jesus is a sinner or not, so they eventually ask what the formerly blind man thinks of Jesus. The blind man tells the Pharisees with absolute certainty that Jesus is a prophet (John 9:17). "Prophet" was the most respectful title that could be given to a man of God; clearly, the formerly blind man's knowledge of and faith in Jesus has increased greatly since he was healed. [12] After the Pharisees question the man's parents, they call him again and state that they know that Jesus is a sinner. The man's response is simple but profound: while he admits that he is not an expert on religious matters, this fact does not bother him because he knows that he has been healed. [13] Because the Pharisees are still not able to reach a verdict about Jesus among themselves, they question the man again in hopes of catching him in a lie. The man responds in John 9:27 by asking the Pharisees, "Do you also want to become his disciples?" The way that the question is worded in Hebrew implies that the man was expecting a negative answer; he is merely mocking the Pharisees. [14] The word "also," however, reveals that the man's faith has deepened further and that he now sees himself as one of Jesus' disciples.

The idea of being Jesus' disciples shocks and repulses the Pharisees, who tell the formerly blind man that they are disciples of Moses and that they do not even know where Jesus comes from. Though they state this fact in an effort to undermine Jesus' reputation, it actually weakens their argument against him since the Old Testament Scripture states that Christ's origin would not be known. The formerly blind man's quick response shows that he has thought through his argument much more thoroughly than the Pharisees have. He points out that God does not listen to sinners and that no one except God has ever healed congenital blindness. Therefore, Jesus must be from God both because God listened to him and because Jesus finished the creation that God started. [15] The Pharisees are furious that an uneducated, sinful person is preaching to them, and they throw him out of the temple. Most biblical scholars agree that the Pharisees' act symbolizes the man's formal excommunication from religious life. [16] However, Raymond E. Brown disagrees; he believes that the Pharisees physically removed the man from the temple and nothing more. [17] I am inclined to believe that the man was excommunicated, based on the conversation that takes place directly after the man is driven out of the temple. Jesus hears that the man has been driven out and goes in search of him, which implies that something out of the ordinary has happened. When Jesus finds him, the first thing he asks is if the formerly blind man believes in the Son of Man. The man is eager to believe, and when he learns that Jesus is the Son of Man he worships Jesus. The fact that the man is so swift to worship Jesus suggests that he does not have any other avenue of worship; he has been completely cut off from temple life, and he believes that Jesus is the way to God. The man's faith has been growing every since the beginning of the narrative, and now he worships Jesus as Christ and God's divine messenger.

While the main point of the narrative in chapter 9 is to show that Jesus is the Son of Man, John had many other reasons for telling the story, as well. According to Cook, John wrote the narrative in order to confront Gnostic and dualistic ideas, which were starting to spread throughout Asia during John's time. [18] In order to combat these beliefs, John makes it clear in John 9 and throughout the rest of his Gospel that Jesus is equal parts human and divine. Raymond E. Brown, on the other hand, believes that John had three distinct reasons for writing the narrative; the first of these reasons was to continue the theme of light. [19] Jesus states that he is "the light of the world" in verse 5, a title that links this narrative back to the lesson Jesus teaches in chapter 8. The reader is also reminded of John's use of the word "light" in the prologue, and it becomes plain that Jesus is referring to his divinity when he calls himself "the light of the world." Just as he does countless other times throughout his Gospel, John is reminding his readers that Jesus is God.

John's second purpose for writing this narrative was to reveal and dismiss some of the doubts that people of his era had about Jesus. Since some people may have questioned why Jesus would heal on the Sabbath, John has his Pharisees state in verse 16 that Jesus could not be from God because he worked on the Sabbath. The blind man refutes this statement in verse 31 by reminding his audience that only someone sent from God could have healed him. John reveals the nature of God through storytelling by putting his arguments into the mouths of his characters.

Brown believes that John's third reason for writing this narrative was to commend baptism. John emphasizes the fact that the blind man was healed only when he washed in the pool of Siloam, which suggests that the water is a key part of the man's healing. Brown reminds his readers that the pool of Siloam was the same pool that was used during the Feast of Tabernacles, and that Jesus implies that he is the replacement of the Pool of Siloam in John 7:37-38. Brown believes that the healing nature of the water and the fact that Jesus is the replacement of the pool implies that John is an advocate of baptism. However, this theory seems rather weak to me. While I wholeheartedly agree that Jesus was connecting himself to the pool of Siloam in order to remind the people that he is the path to life, I do not think that John was trying to encourage baptism. After all, Jesus heals and saves many other people during his ministry, and in no other scenario does Jesus tell the saved person told to wash himself or herself in water. Water is a recurring theme in the Gospel, so it seems likely that if John were trying to encourage believers to be baptized he would have said so explicitly and more than once.

Though we cannot be entirely certain what point John was trying to make by including John 9 in his gospel, it is clear that readers can learn many valuable lessons from the narrative. Readers who study Jesus' role in John 9 will and learn from the blind man's faith will quickly come to the realization that they can learn a great deal from the blind man's quick acceptance of Jesus as his Lord. When Jesus gave the blind man his eyesight, he healed him both physically and spiritually. The miracle changed the blind man's worldview so much that he stood up to the religious leaders of his day in order to testify that Jesus was Christ and the Son of Man.

Bibliography

Alison, J. "The Man Blind from Birth and the Subversion of Sin: Some Questions about Fundamental Morals." Theology & Sexuality 7 (1997) 83-102.

Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel According to John. Vol. 29 Anchor Bible. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1966.

Cook, G. "Seeing, Judging and Acting: Evangelism in Jesus' Way. A Biblical Study on Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John." International Review of Mission 87 (1998) 388-396.

Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to John: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971

Staley, J. L. "Stumbling in the Dark, Reaching for the Light: Reading Character in John 5 and 9." Semeia 53 (1991) 55-80.

Thompson, M.M. "Signs and Faith in the Fourth Gospel." Bulletin for Biblical Research 1 (1991) 89-105.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible.

[1] M.M. Thompson, "Signs and Faith in the Fourth Gospel," Bulletin for Biblical Research 1 (1991) 89-105.

[2] G. Cook, "Seeing, Judging and Acting: Evangelism in Jesus' Way. A Biblical Study on Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John," International Review of Mission 87 (1998) 388-396.

[3] G. Cook, "Seeing, Judging and Acting: Evangelism in Jesus' Way. A Biblical Study on Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John," International Review of Mission 87 (1998) 388-396.

[4] J. Alison, "The Man Blind from Birth and the Subversion of Sin: Some Questions about Fundamental Morals," Theology & Sexuality 7 (1997) 83-102.

[5] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1971), pp. 480-497

[6] J. Alison, "The Man Blind from Birth and the Subversion of Sin: Some Questions about Fundamental Morals," Theology & Sexuality 7 (1997) 83-102.

[7] G. Cook, "Seeing, Judging and Acting: Evangelism in Jesus' Way. A Biblical Study on Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John," International Review of Mission 87 (1998) 388-396.

[8] G. Cook, "Seeing, Judging and Acting: Evangelism in Jesus' Way. A Biblical Study on Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John," International Review of Mission 87 (1998) 388-396.

[9] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1971), pp. 480-497

[10] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1971), pp. 480-497

[11] J.L. Staley, "Stumbling in the Dark, Reaching for the Light: Reading Character in John 5 and 9," Semeia 53 (1991) 55-80.

12] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1971), pp. 480-497

[13] J. Alison, "The Man Blind from Birth and the Subversion of Sin: Some Questions about Fundamental Morals," Theology & Sexuality 7 (1997) 83-102.

[14] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1971), pp. 480-497

[15] M.M. Thompson, "Signs and Faith in the Fourth Gospel," Bulletin for Biblical Research 1 (1991) 89-105.

[16] G. Cook, "Seeing, Judging and Acting: Evangelism in Jesus' Way. A Biblical Study on Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John," International Review of Mission 87 (1998) 388-396.

[17] Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966), pp. 374-381.

[18] G. Cook, "Seeing, Judging and Acting: Evangelism in Jesus' Way. A Biblical Study on Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John," International Review of Mission 87 (1998) 388-396.

[19] Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966), pp. 374-381.