Jesus heals the man born blind
1 ① As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Master, was he born blind because of a sin of his, or of his parents?”
3Jesus answered, “Neither was it for his own sin nor for his parents’. He was born blind so that God’s power might be shown in him. 4While it is day we must do the work of the One who sent me; for the night will come when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6As Jesus said this, he made paste with spittle and clay and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. 7Then he said, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (This name means sent.) So he went and washed and came back able to see.
8His neighbors and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, “Isn’t this the beggar who used to sit here?” 9Some said, “It’s the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am the one.” 10Then they asked, “How is it that your eyes were opened?” 11And he answered, “The man called Jesus made a mud paste, put it on my eyes and said to me: ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went, and washed, and I could see.” 12They asked, “Where is he?” and the man answered, “I don’t know.”
13The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. 15The Pharisees asked him again, “How did you recover your sight?” And he said, “He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” 16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he works on the Sabbath”; but others wondered, “How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” They were divided 17and they questioned the blind man again, “What do you think of this man who opened your eyes?” And he answered, “He is a prophet.”
18After all this, the Jews refused to believe that the man had been blind and had recovered his sight; so they called his parents 19and asked them, “Is this your son? You say that he was born blind, how is it that he now sees?” 20The parents answered, “He really is our son and he was born blind; 21but how it is that he now sees, we don’t know, neither do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is old enough. Let him speak for himself.”
22The parents said this because they feared the Jews who had already agreed that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ was to be expelled. 23Because of this his parents said, “He is old enough, ask him.”
24So a second time the Pharisees called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Tell us the truth; we know that this man is a sinner.” 25He replied, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner or not; I only know that I was blind and now I see.” 26They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27He replied, “I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
28Then they started to insult him. “Become his disciple yourself! We are disciples of Moses. 29We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man we don’t know where he comes from.”
30The man replied, “It is amazing that you don’t know where the man comes from, and yet he opened my eyes! 31We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone honors God and does his will, God listens to him. 32Never, since the world began, has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person who was born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34They answered him, “You were born a sinner and now you teach us!” And they expelled him.
35Jesus heard that they had expelled him. He found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36He answered, “Who is he, that I may believe in him?” 37Jesus said, “You have seen him and he is speaking to you. 38He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped him.
39Jesus said, “I came into this world to carry out a judgment: Those who do not see shall see, and those who see shall become blind.” 40Some Pharisees stood by and asked him, “So we are blind?” 41And Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty. Now you say: ‘We see’; this is the proof of your sin.”
- Jn 9,1 TO BELIEVE IS TO SEE Jesus is the light: the blind man sees the light of day. Jesus is the light, but people are divided about him. Some are open to the light, that is, to faith; others remain blind, that is to say, they keep their own ideas and their own belief and refuse to believe in the messenger of God. One way of deepening our understanding of this chapter would be to observe the Jewish people's reactions to the miracle. Some open themselves to the light, that is, to faith; while others prefer to follow their own lights. This Gospel story shows us the blind man who immediately understands the significance of the cure, the fearful and pragmatic parents, and the Pharisees who do nothing but judge and are unaware that they condemn themselves as they judge. The gospel opens up to us another way of interpreting the miracle: the one who begins to see is the believer (see vv. 4,6-7, 22,27-28, 23...). Master, was it his sin or his parents? (v. 2). Jesus refuses to consider every misfortune as God's punishment. The healing of the blind man was performed on the sabbath. So people wonder if God will side with the law forbidding work on that day, or with the man who performed such a good work. The Pharisees defend the Law, as is to be expected from people who are closser to the written word and more distant from human needs. You don't know where the man comes from? Who live in such a way that they are able to recevie the truth? It is squite understandable that the Pharisees cast out the blind man, because faith in Christ necessarily separates the believer from those who do not recognize the way God is working. Many people think that faith is an illusion. They think faith is a coer-up of reality and that what is real is limited to material things, only that which is seen, touched, counted or measured. Truth is different. The believer sees the same things that others see and know; but besides that, she captures something that escapes those who lack faith. A special sense is needed to see beyond the material world. Christian faith is more than belief in a God higher than us. Faith is an ability to know by the light of Christ everything that is true, either in the goals or the means people use. The faithful one sees whatever other people see, but also perceives something that is out of their reach. We should not think that to believe or not to believe is a matter of minor importance in the struggles of life. Even when fighting together with non-Christians for concrete goals, we will hardly agree on what is more important. With the coming of Christ a sentences, or judgment, is carried out (9:39). This means that humanity begins to be divided, because all mus take a position is respect to him. Jesus judges people, or rather, we are those who judge ourselves when we accept or reject him.
