Jesus’ confrontation with the Jews
continued in John 9. This time it was over the healing of a blind man. Jesus
had just encountered the religious leaders in the temple treasury, where there
were four great lit torches, that led to His proclamation saying, “I am the
light of the world.” The meeting and healing of the blind man is a fitting
account of what would happen when the true Light goes out into the world. If
there is a more fitting theme to this account, it must be this: Jesus is the
answer to man’s blindness.
John carefully set the platform for
the miracle in verse 1. We are told that, “As He (Jesus) passed by, He saw a man
blind from birth.” Evidently, as He fixed his eyes upon the poor man, everything
must have come to a halt. Jesus paused in order to help that man. His disciples
was quick to ask Him for an answer to the cause of this poor man’s blindness. ‘Rabbi,”
they asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” It
must have been the prevailing Jewish thought that such defects had immediate genetic
causes. Jesus’ answer is most insightful. He said “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his
parents; but it was so that the works of God
might be displayed in him.” What Jesus said was essentially this: there is no
point trying to engage in fruitless discussion. What is important is that this blindness
is for the purpose of glorifying God. It is for God to demonstrate His power.
Then He said to them: “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day;
night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
For us with sight, we can fully imagine how
dark the world is to a blind man. Here was a man who had never known light because
he was born blind. All he knew was darkness all his life. He could never imagine
what color looks like, whether it be red, blue or green and so on. The beauty
of God’s creation was totally hidden from him. He could feel many things but
can never know how they look like. He moved around with the help of a cane or
the arms of someone else, a friend or a relative.
This blind man, now outside the
temple, heard Jesus’ claim saying, “While I am in the world, I am the light of
the world.” Then unexpectedly, he could feel and hear a person kneeling close
to him and gently spat on the ground and made mud patty. Being blind he did not
know that this was Jesus. The Lord than put took the mud patty and applied it
to this poor man’s eyes that were out of function. Then he heard the
instruction to go and wash in the pool of Siloam.
Have you ever wondered how that man must
have felt? All must have seemed so foolish to him. Just imagine staggering to
the pool with two mud patties over his eyes. He must have thought to himself, “Will
all these really work?” As sure as Jesus’ intention for him, the incredible
happened. As he washed away the mud from his eyes, light came pouring through them.
He could see! He must have first seen the reflection of himself in the water,
the as he looked up he saw the trees, the sky, and the birds that flew by. What
a marvelous sight! There must have been a commotion that followed. The crowd
had seen him begging, and knew who he was. They knew that he was the usual
blind man. The difference is that he could now see. So unbelievable was this
miracle that some tried to explain away by saying that he couldn’t be that
blind man they knew. Of course, he vehemently insisted that he was the one and
same person. So they demanded to know how he was able to see. He then told
them, “The
man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and
washed, and I received sight.” Many then wanted to know where Jesus was, but He
must have slipped away quietly. Even the blind man didn’t know where He went.
Like the people who asked
of the blind man and the question in people’s mind when a miracle happened is
always the same: “How did it all happen?” The answer would be the same for us
Christians, it is through Jesus. And He is the answer to all our longings in
life. We may not grope in physical blindness, but are we fumbling because we
are spiritually blind? Know that Jesus is the answer to that blindness.
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