Gospel of St. John

The Blind Beggar – 09:1-7

At the end of Chapter 8, we found Jesus rejected as the “Light of the World.”  Here, we find Jesus’ reaction to his rejection.  He continues to show mercy even in the face of rejection.

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, neither had this man sinned, nor his parents:  but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day:  the night cometh, when no man can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.  When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.)”  The disciples did not expect Jesus to heal the beggar.  They just wanted to know whose sin caused his blindness.  Both the Essenes and the Gnostics believed in re-incarnation and that your lot in this life reflected your just deserts from the last one.  The majority of Jews believed human suffering was the result of heredity.  Jesus made it clear that the man’s condition was not the direct result of sin by either the beggar or his parents.  All sin is remotely due to sin, for if sin had not entered the world there would have been no suffering among humankind.  Pride encourages us to find a relationship between the suffering of others and their actions.  In this case, God’s grace was made manifest by the beggar’s condition.  Jesus explains that he must perform God’s work before he is no longer in the world.  Jesus is the light of the world and his presence keeps the darkness of night from falling.  Jesus tested the obedience of the man by telling him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.  We should look at the parallels between the condition of the blind beggar and unredeemed sinners.  He was blind to Christ as we are often blind to his Light.  He had no resources that would improve his situation.  We are as helpless in our sins as he was in his blindness.

The Blind Beggar – 09:8-23

“The neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?  Some said, This is he:  others said, He is like him:  but he said I am he.  Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?  He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash:  and I went and washed, and I received sight.”  This miracle could not be hidden from the man’s neighbors.  Being unsaved they were totally skeptical and sought other explanations.  As they speculated about his identity, he admitted he was that man.  Now he must explain how his eyes were opened.  He will be cross-examined repeatedly and must face the test with courage.  Do we acknowledge our blessings?  Are we quick to share their source with others?  The beggar had no idea who Jesus was.  He knew only his name but he obeyed and was healed.  The neighbor’s asked where this man was but the beggar did not know.

“They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.  And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.  Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.  He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.  Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.  Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?  And there was a division among them.”  The Pharisees were anxious to discredit the miracle and prove it was not wrought by One sent from God.  If the miracle stood the test of time, they would be forced to acknowledge something of God had occurred in their midst.  They preferred to simply discredit Jesus as a Sabbath breaker and were willing to excommunicate anyone who confessed him as the Christ.  We still have groups who say, “If you don’t do things our way, you cannot be on the right path.”  The beggar was forced to re-iterate the story of how he was healed.  By healing on the Sabbath, Jesus again teaches that the fourth commandment must be modified by necessity and mercy.  Jesus went to the Temple to worship on the Sabbath and also ministered mercy to one in need.

“They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes?  He said, He is a prophet.  But the Jews did not believe … they called the parents of him that had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying is this your son, who ye say was born blind?  How then doth he now see?  His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:  But by what means he now seeth, we know not;  or who hath opened his eyes, we know not:  he is of age;  ask him:  he shall speak for himself.”  Division arose among the Pharisees concerning Jesus.  Some denied his being of God because he healed on the Sabbath.  Others asked, “How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?  They then applied more pressure to the testimony of the beggar.  They asked his opinion of the man that healed him.  He refused to deny Jesus’ divinity and answered, “He is a prophet.”  The Pharisees failed to intimidate the man into equivocation so they turned to his parents.  They were under the same threat of being excommunicated if they confessed Jesus as the Christ.  The parents admitted the beggar was born blind but denied any knowledge of how he received his sight.  They abandoned their son to deal with the Pharisees alone.

The Blind Beggar – 09:24-41

“Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise:  we know that this man is a sinner.  He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not:  one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.  Then said they to him What did he to thee?  How opened he thine eyes?”  The Pharisees brought the beggar back into their midst and pretended they had proof of Jesus’ sins.  The beggar stood his ground and said, I only know I was blind and now I see.  Again the Pharisees pressed the beggar for the details about how he was healed.  They were probably hoping for a variation in his story that would allow them to discredit his witness altogether.  He repeated his story and gave them nothing on which to attack his credibility.

“Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciples;  but we are Moses’ disciples.  We know that God spake unto Moses:  as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.  The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.  Now we know that God heareth not sinners:  but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.  Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.”  The Pharisees ridiculed the man as a disciple of Jesus while they were disciples of Moses.  They knew God spoke to Moses.  They claimed there was no proof that God spoke to Jesus.  The beggar pointed out that only God could perform such a miracle.  How could they miss the fact that he performed things only a man of God could perform?

“They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?  And they cast him out.  Jesus heard that they had cast him out;  and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?  He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?  And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.  And he said, Lord I believe and he worshipped him.  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see and that they which see might be made blind.”  The Pharisees were incensed at his bold attack on their discretion.  He was born in sin and could not possibly teach the Pharisees.  The beggar was excommunicated.  Jesus sought out the beggar after he was cast out of the temple.  After all of the beggar’s unshakable testimony on Christ’s behalf, Jesus asked if he believed.  The beggar did not know who the Son of God was.  When Jesus said he was the Son of God, the beggar believed and worshipped him.

Jesus admitted that he came into the world for judgment.  He said that those who were seeing with respect to the things of this world would not be able to see with respect to the things of the spiritual world.  And, those who were blind to the things of this world would be able to see the things of the world to come.  Jesus came not to judge, but to save;  and yet when he came, He judged every man and put every man to the test.  As the light of the world, He saved all who accepted His judgment.

The Pool of Siloam

The Gihon Spring was the main source of water for the City of David, the original site of Jerusalem. One of the world's major intermittent springs - and a reliable water source that made human settlement possible in ancient Jerusalem - the spring was not only used for drinking water, but also initially for irrigation of gardens in the adjacent Kidron Valley which provided a food source for the ancient settlement. The spring being intermittent required the excavation of the Pool of Siloam which stored the large amount of water needed for the town when the spring was not flowing.