I Can See Again – John 9:1-12

Premature babies are particularly susceptible to blindness.  According to Healthline.com they can experience “retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), which occurs in premature babies when the blood vessels that supply their retina aren’t fully developed.”  We don’t know what caused blindness in the man born blind, but somehow people knew that was his story and it created a question in the mind of Jesus’ disciples.

As he was passing by he saw a man blind from birth.  And the disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned, but this happened that the works of God might be made known in him. It is necessary for us to work the works of the One who sent me while it is day.  The night is coming, when no one will be able to work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

After saying this he spit on the ground and made mud from the saliva and anointed the man’s eyes with it.  Then he said, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which means ‘sent’).  So the man went and washed and returned seeing.

When his neighbors and others saw this man who was a former beggar, they were saying, “Isn’t this the guy who sat and begged?”  Others were saying, “This is him!”  Still others were saying, “No, it’s someone who looks like him.”  But he said, “It’s me!”  They said to him, “How are your eyes opened?”  He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and told me to go to Siloam and wash.  So I went and washed and I can see again.”  They asked him, “Where is he?”  He said, “I don’t know.”  (John 9:1-12)

Like Job’s friends, the disciples believe that if someone has a severe suffering in their life it must be a judgment of God for their sin, or in this case, since the man was born blind, the sin of his parents.  We have seen already that the man who was paralyzed and lay by the pool hoping to get in and be healed was told by Jesus that if he sinned a worse thing could happen to him.  God does judge people for sin.  But this does not mean that is always the case or explanation for suffering.  Jesus clarifies here that this man’s blindness is not caused by anyone’s sin.

The miracle Jesus does here is so astounding that people acquainted with the man wonder if it can really be him.  Jesus uses a metaphorical means of healing the man, putting mud on his eyes, a symbol of his blindness and then telling him to wash it off in order to see.  Could Jesus not have simply said, “Be healed,” and accomplished the same thing?  But the power of symbol is used to help the man’s faith and requires him to demonstrate faith by following Jesus’ instructions.  This is how we demonstrate faith, also.

Discussion Questions

1. Have you ever known someone who was blind?  What was their life like?
2. What do you know about this man’s life, the man born blind?
3. Why do people want to believe that misfortunes in one’s life are a punishment from God?
4. What do you think Jesus meant by the night coming when no one would be able to work?
5. Do you buy the explanation in the article about why Jesus used mud to heal the man’s eyes?  Why or why not?
6. How have you had to demonstrate faith in Jesus?