It happened on one feast day in Jerusalem: after the Saviour finished His sermon and was leaving the
Temple, He saw on the street a man blind from birth.
The Jews thought that every misfortune befalling a
man was punishment for his sins. If the misfortune befell a child, then they
considered that to be punishment for sins of his parents. Therefore, His
disciples asked Him, "Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he
was born blind?"
Jesus Christ answered, "Neither this man
sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be manifest in him."
When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground and
made mud of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the
clay. Then, the Saviour said to the blind man, "Go, wash in the pool of
Siloam" (as one water spring in the city was called. The word siloam
means sent).
In order to heal the man blind from birth, the
Saviour could have simply given the word and the blind man would have begun to
see. Therefore, if He now anointed the eyes of the blind man, He did it not
because a healing power was contained in the clay; but so that by touching his
eyes, He would awaken in him faith and show the onlookers that the blind man
received the words of the Saviour with faith.
The man blind from birth therefore went to the
pool of Siloam, washed, and began to see, and he returned seeing. The
neighbours and those who before had seen that he was blind were amazed and
said, "Is this not the blind man who sat and begged?"
Some said, "It is he." Others said,
"He only resembles him."
He himself said, "I am he who was
blind."
Then, they said to him, "How were your eyes
opened?"
The healed man answered, "A man named Jesus
made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and
wash.’ I went and washed and I received sight."
Then, they said to him, "Where is He?"
The healed man answered, "I know not."
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had
formerly been blind. Now, it was a Sabbath day when Christ healed him. The
Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. And the healed man said
to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."
Some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not
from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How
can a man who is a sinner do such wonders?"
There was a division among them. So they again
said to the blind man, "What do you say about Him, since He has opened
your eyes?"
The healed man said, "He is a Prophet."
The Pharisees did not believe that he had been
blind and had received his sight. They called the parents of the man who had
received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born
blind? How then does he now see?"
His parents answered, "We know that this is
our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees, we do not know, nor we
do know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he will speak for
himself."
His parents said this because they feared the
Pharisees, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one should confess Jesus
of Nazareth to be Christ the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, he was to be
put out of the synagogue, that is, to be considered an apostate from their
faith and law. Therefore his parents, out of fear of the Pharisees, said,
"He is of age, ask him."
So for the second time they called the man who had
been blind and said to him, "Give God the praise; we know that this Man is
a sinner;" — that is: for your healing, thank God, not that Man Who is a
sinner.
The healed man said to them, "Whether he is a
sinner or not, I know not; one thing I know that whereas I was blind, now I
see." The Pharisees began to ask him again, "What did He do to you.
How did He open your eyes?" The healed one answered them, "I have
told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?
Do you too want to become His disciples?"
The Pharisees became angry, reviled him, and said,
"You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has
spoken to Moses; but as for this Man, we do not know where He comes from."
The healed man answered, "Why this is a
marvel! You do not know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know
that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is a worshipper of God and
does His will, God listens to him. Never since the world began, was it not
heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this Man were not
from God, He could do nothing."
These simple and wise words with which no one
could take issue angered the Pharisees. They said to him, "You were
altogether born in sins, and you would teach us?" And they cast him out.
Jesus Christ heard that they had cast him out; and
having found him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of man?"
The healed man answered, "And Who is He, Sir
that I may believe in Him?"
Jesus said to him, "You have seen Him, and it
is He who speaks to you."
Then, the healed one with great joy said,
"Lord, I believe;" and he worshipped Him.
Note: See
the Gospel of John 9:1-38.
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